


Far Cry: Northern Hearts

by KotOR_Luvr



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 4
Genre: Action, Angst, Dark, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild depictions of torture, Past Abuse, Romance, Scenes of violence, coarse language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-10-26 22:30:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10796052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KotOR_Luvr/pseuds/KotOR_Luvr
Summary: Tahki Gagné had just returned to Kyrat to find it horribly changed. After she and her friend are forced to move to Northern Kyrat, they are both put under the "protection" of the King, Pagan Min. Tahki takes an immediate disliking towards the tyrant, and him to her. But as time passes their cold, frozen hearts soon melt and they cross the line they never thought they'd cross again.





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> So, I am playing FC4 and I have just broken into Northern Kyrat, but I must say, I love the game to absolute pieces! And, although they're still bad guys, I'm developing a soft spot for some characters in the game. With that set aside, I want to explain a few things;
> 
> At the end of the credits, depending on if you chose to kill Amita or Sabal, Kyrat will turn out to be one thing or another. It can be a drug and slave filled land with children as soldiers (not children-children, but young adults). Or, it can be ruled by a dictator-like leader, Sabal, who values tradition almost as horribly as Ajay's father did. With Bhadra as the Tarun Matara. In my game, I'm going to end up with Sabal (yes, I looked stuff up ahead of time) and I'm going to keep Pagan Min alive. However, in my personal head canons, I believe that Ajay would not be King of Kyrat because he did what he had to do and he most likely felt betrayed by the Golden Path for what happened, so he most likely heads back home. He doesn't want to rule Kyrat and undo all the work he did, but he also doesn't want to aid the Golden Path any further.
> 
> So, Pagan Min remains to be in rule and slowly is trying to gain back Kyrat. I wanna explain more, but that would ruin the story. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy! (Also, Gagné is pronounced 'gahn-yay')

She had previously thought that Kyrat would be a good idea, a way to get away from home. She had already done it once, and it worked, but this time she just wanted to come back. Too many bad memories back home.

Her sister had warned her against going even near Kyrat at this time, but she had countered with the fact that her best friend was still in Kyrat and was expecting her, anyhow, so there was no point in staying.

However, as she felt the bus stop, she knew something was off.

She heard someone whisper, "Passport.", and she quickly pulled it from her bag and held it out. It was immediately taken from her gloved hand.

She heard someone arguing outside of the bus and she turned her head to see men in blue jackets confronting the driver of the bus. There was some sort of odd symbol on their jackets, but she could barely distinguish it.

They also had guns.

She was truly beginning to regret her decision in coming back to this country.

She quickly fished her phone from her bag and put it into the inner pocket of her leather jacket, along with her small wallet. If something was going to happen (and her instincts were rarely wrong), she wanted to have the essentials with her in case she lost her bag. Some form of contact and money. Of course, she had a few bills inside her shoe (a trick her friend taught her once), but she preferred to have all of it with her if possible.

One of the men in a blue jacket skimmed over all of the passports (which was really only three of them), and handed them back to the driver. All except for one.

She cursed under her breath as she realized it must have been her passport. She should've just kept her old one; would've drawn less attention. The man showed the driver the passport, clearly asking something. The driver hesitantly nodded.

Okay, something was definitely wrong.

The man with her passport gestured to the bus with his gun and another man immediately began to approach it, his gun ready to fire if necessary.

She was very tempted to duck under one of the seats and hide until they left (if they were dumb enough to not look under them), but she stood her ground.

The man entered the bus. "Tahki Gagné."

Tahki cleared her throat. "I am she."

The man approached her. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with me."

"On what grounds?" She snapped.

"This is not up for debate." He retorted. "You are coming with me."

"And if I refuse?"

The man cocked his gun at her in a threatening manner, glaring pure ice at her. She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Very well."

Swinging her bag over her shoulder, Tahki followed the man off of the bus, seeing as the other passengers gave her almost apologetic looks before she exited the bus. "Are you the law, or something?" She asked, watching as the bus drove off down the dusty road. So much for transportation.

The man didn't respond to her and whispered something to one of his companions, who nodded and spared her a glance. She readjusted her bag on her shoulder. "What?"

"You are to wait here."

She glared at them. "You have no right!" She exclaimed. "I have places I need to be in this moment, and unless you're the law in Kyrat, you have no right to hold me here."

"Not our problem." The taller man said. He grabbed a walkie-talkie from his belt and spoke into it in his native language, something that Tahki berated herself for not learning. Her friend had said to learn it since they were basically living in Kyrat, but she just didn't have the time or even take the time to when she did have it.

A woman attempted to grab her bag, to which she harshly tugged back. "Excuse you."

"We need to check it for weapons." The woman explained.

"They already checked me earlier before I got onto the bus." She snapped. "I have none."

"Don't make this harder than what it needs to be. We are not afraid to shoot you."

"Then shoot me, because you are not taking my bag!"

No, Tahki was not lying when she said she had no weapons, but if these people were who she thought they were, then chances were that she wouldn't get her bag back. She had a gift for her friend, and she wasn't intent on losing it to some terrorist group. She also had some medications that she couldn't afford to lose under any circumstance.

One of the men aimed his gun at her and she held tightly to her bag, glancing between the two of them. "Come on, just leave me be. I didn't do anything to you. Yet."

The woman attempted to grab her bag again and Tahki delivered a swift roundhouse, kicking her directly into her face. The woman fell over, most likely unconscious. The man who had pointed the gun at her was too shocked at her sudden attack and before he knew it, Tahki was swinging her bag into his face, knocking him out cold. It was a lot heavier than it looked!

Tahki put the bag back over her shoulder and grabbed the man's gun, pointing it at the third member of the group. He had had his back turned when she had attacked the other two, so he was not prepared for the gun that was pointed at his face.

"I may just have one arm," Tahki said, "But I am still a crack shot. I'm not a murderer, however. So, you can either let me go, or you can have a bullet between your eyes."

The young man immediately dropped to his knees, holding his hands up. "Please, I am only doing my job!" He exclaimed. "I only did what I was ordered to do!"

Tahki sniffed and dropped the gun. "I trust you won't shoot me."

He quickly shook his head. "I swear on my own life!"

She nodded sharply. "Good. Because if you do, there are some people here who would not take kindly to the person who murdered me."

/ / /

Jesse Harper tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch, constantly looking up at the clock. She's late. Why was she so late? She was supposed to be here almost three hours ago!

The door to the small home suddenly opened and slammed shut. "Lord, this place is a nightmare!"

Jesse shot up from his seat. "Where the hell were you?!" He asked, running over to her and hugging her. "You were supposed to be here hours ago!"

Tahki rolled her brown eyes at him. "I'm fine, Jess. Just got held up at the border, is all. Made one of the idiots think I was someone important and he let me go."

"Was it those Golden Path people?"

"Who now?"

Jesse sighed and took the bag from off her shoulder. "A lot has changed since you've been gone, Tahki."

She rolled her shoulder and winced. Walking with a heavy bag really wasn't good for her. "A year isn't that long." She said, walking over to the fridge and opening it. "Where's the beer...?" She muttered.

"For Kyrat, that's more than enough time." Jesse said, placing himself back onto the couch. "This Golden Path group, they were making a name for themselves for a while. Pagan Min had even came here and threatened me. Something about harboring rebels."

Her head snapped from behind the fridge door, her eyes widened with shock. "Hold on, King Min? Came here?"

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Yeah. Anyways, the Golden Path must have taken over Kyrat, because there has been less and less Royal Guards and patrols and all I've been seeing is a bunch of Golden Path members guarding certain areas in Kyrat. It's actually annoying. Oh, there's also this Tar Matata or something, now."

"Tarun Matara." Tahki corrected. She closed the fridge door and walked over to the couch with two beers in hand. She sat on the couch beside Jesse and handed him one of the beer bottles. Raising the other bottle to her mouth, she used her teeth to remove the cap and she spit it out into a waste basket beside the couch. "You know, I could've opened that for you." He said.

"I have one arm and one eye, but-"

"You're not incapable." He finished. "I know. Girl, you really got to learn to accept help. You're not invincible, you know."

She took a swig of the alcohol, grimacing slightly as it slid down her throat. "That may be, but I'm always willing to try my limits."

"You need to learn them, first." He muttered.

"And you need to learn to cut your hair." She joked.

He brushed at his blonde hair. "I like it longer. Gives me a surfer look."

Tahki rolled her eyes. "Or a greaser look, with that stubble you're trying to grow."

"Hey, don't you talk." He snapped, taking a quick sip of his own beer. "You normally keep your hair short, and now look; it's almost shoulder length!"

"I'm a woman, Jesse. I'm also a Native American; I can get away with long hair more than you white people can."

"Fuck you."

Tahki laughed and took another swig of her beer. She and Jesse had been best friends for as long as she could remember. Of course, as soon as she told him about going to Kyrat, he refused to leave her alone in this country. He came along and of course, they both became full fledged citizens of Kyrat after not heading back to Canada. She didn't want to leave, he didn't want to leave her alone. Luckily for the both of them, Tahki used to have family in Kyrat so their house was still standing. It was now their personal living space. It was small, having only one bedroom and bathroom and an open area, which had a kitchen, dining room and living room all in one. It was small, but it worked.

Of course, Tahki had to head back to Canada and the visit took a lot longer than expected. Jesse (miraculously) kept the home clean and tidy.

She suddenly remembered something. "I also got something for you for your birthday! In my bag."

Jesse unzipped the bag and pulled out a small totem pole. He smiled. "Just like home." He said.

He always had a fascination of the Native American culture and Tahki was an excellent source for information on her culture. Of course, she would sometimes get him things that were Native in nature, such as dream catchers or native dolls. The totem pole was a new one, however, and he liked it. He immediately set it on the table beside the couch. "I always felt this table was empty with just a clock."

/ / /

A loud knock came to the door, making Tahki groan loudly. She looked at the digital clock on the table beside the couch. She groaned again.

Jesse growled and turned over onto his back, swinging an arm over his eyes. "KiKi, shut up whoever's at the door, please."

The woman removed herself from the couch, making sure to step on his groin as she did. He groaned and rolled onto his side, holding a hand over his family jewels. "Why...?"

This was normally how things went on Saturday mornings. They'd have a beer the previous night, fall asleep on the couch. Jesse would most likely fall off the couch and end up sleeping on the floor and Tahki would spread out on the couch. Of course, there was a bed in the house, but Tahki was too lazy to get into it on Friday evenings. And, whenever she woke up, she would accidentally step on him (and sometimes "accidentally" step on him, as well). However, what never happened on their Saturday mornings was someone harshly knocking on their door. "Whoever invented early morning wake up calls," Tahki muttered, "I'll murder him."

Brushing her hair back so she could at least look presentable, she quickly opened the door. "Yes?"

"Tahki Gagné."

Her eyes widened. Blue Jacket. Yellow symbol. Uh-oh.

She kept her cool and sighed heavily. "What do you people want, now?"

"I'm the man you spared yesterday, Miss Gagné. I'm not here to harm you."

"KiKi, who is it?"

"Golden Path."

Jesse shot up, tripping over his own feet as he attempted to run to the door. "Don't worry. He's friendly. I hope."

"Yes," the man responded. "I'm here to warn you!"

Tahki leaned against the door frame. "What about? And go slow, I literally just woke up."

"Our leader, Sabal, has heard of your arrival. Because of your father, he believes you'll be a danger to Kyrat."

She raised an eyebrow. "A one-armed, half blind woman?"

"If not dangerous, then valuable. Your father did work for the King many years ago."

"Yes, but what are you warning me about?"

The young man looked around, looking to make sure nobody was there to listen. "You must escape to Northern Kyrat. It is closer to Pagan Min's palace, and the North is slowly being taken back by the Royal Army. There are less members of the Golden Path, there."

Jesse placed a hand on Tahki's shoulder. "We aren't going anywhere."

"If you do not leave here, Sabal may find you."

"Sabal?"

"Golden Path leader." Jesse explained. "A worse tyrant than Pagan, in my opinion."

Tahki sighed. She wasn't even home for a day and things were already going to shit. "So, why should I care about this Sabal? I'm sure I can handle him, especially if he isn't law."

"Southern Kyrat is owned by the Golden Path, Miss Gagné. We are the law, here. In the North, we have less control."

Tahki considered this for a moment. She barely knew of the events that had transpired while she was away, but judging by what she had already heard, it wasn't good. If the Golden Path really had turned into a terrorist group, she wouldn't want to meet the face of the Golden Path. "If we were to go to the North, wouldn't there be Golden Path members at the border?"

The young man shook his head. "No, the bridge is open. There is an occasional patrol, but it is not guarded. I am certain you can make it there safely."

Tahki looked up to Jesse. "What do you think?" She asked.

He shrugged. "All up to you, really."

The young man began to take his leave. "Make your decision soon. I am certain that word has reached the Golden Path in the North that you are here. You best pass the bridge before there _are_ guards stationed there."

The young man walked down the stone stairs and left the two people alone. Tahki let out a breath and closed the door. "Why is it that crap follows me wherever I go?" She asked nobody in particular.

"I don't know Sabal personally," Jesse said, "But I do know that his love for tradition is sending Kyrat in a downward spiral. He's more insane than Pagan Min is. If that guy was being serious, then I personally think we should leave."

"We don't have a house in the North."

"I know a few people." He stated. "We might be able to crash somewhere up there."

"If the Royal Army is taking the North back, wouldn't that put us in more danger?"

"Nope. It's a hell of a lot safer than confronting Sabal."

"Can't the man be reasoned with?"

"Nope."

Tahki sighed heavily. "I hate when you're right."

Jesse smiled obnoxiously. "You know you love me."

"Love you enough to be the one to drive?"

His smile immediately disappeared. " _No_!" He shouted.

Last time Tahki had attempted to drive, she had nearly killed the both of them. Granted, the skidding of the vehicle was on purpose, just to give him a little scare, but the rolling of the vehicle off a cliff-like hill was not on purpose under any circumstance. That experience had frightened him enough to never let her drive again.

She released another heavy sigh. "Alright, well, we should probably start packing up or something. I have a feeling we might be staying in Northern Kyrat for longer than we think."


	2. Guests or Prisoners?

"The wildlife seems almost out of control, here."

"Yeah, I know. Almost got caught by a bear, once. I think that the Golden Path only kills animals if they're being attacked. Other than that, they have a respect for the wildlife. Even honey badgers."

Tahki sighed heavily, resting her elbow on the edge of the window and her head on her hand. Kyrat really has changed, she thought. "What keeps the population from growing out of control?"

"The need for food and pelts, KiKi."

She shot Jesse a dirty look. "Stop calling me that."

He glanced at her for a moment before smiling. "I've been calling you that for years. Why stop now?"

She glared.

Jesse huffed. "Sour mood. Alright, then."

She pursed her lips and turned her attention back out the window, watching as a group of sambars ran across and over the hills. Although she had been raised in a Western culture, Tahki still held her Native American heritage close to her heart. Her mother used to say that it was because of her heritage that she had such a passion for the outdoors. And it was true, she loved the outdoors, and she especially loved seeing animals run free compared to staying trapped in captivity (but that didn't mean she wouldn't want to visit the occasional zoo or animal sanctuary). But what she didn't like seeing was animals growing out of control in the wild. It could easily destroy ecosystems!

As they traveled up the mountains in the jeep, she was able to get a stunning view of the Himalayan mountains. One thing she truly appreciated about Kyrat was the views and scenery. It would always take your breath away.

"So, are there any details about what happened while I was gone?"

Jesse shrugged. "Not really. All I heard was that some American guy came along and as soon as he did, the Golden Path started taking control of Kyrat." He jerked the steering wheel, turning at a sharp corner in the road. "A lot of Min's top soldiers went down; De Pleur, Noore, even Yuma. I've heard rumours that De Pleur is still alive, though."

"Why didn't the Royal Army stop the terrorists?"

He shook his head. "They weren't terrorists to begin with. More like rebels, a resistance group. Up until Sabal's leadership, they were never terrorists. And as far as stopping them went, it never worked for long. The Golden Path was bigger than anyone thought."

"That doesn't explain why Pagan Min isn't doing much about it now." She said. "His word is law. Granted, the Golden Path is a terrorist-slash-rebellion group, but isn't the King's army bigger than them?"

Jesse made a face. "Generally speaking. But after Kyrat was taken by the Golden Path, the Royal Army went down in numbers. Especially with Yuma gone."

"Has the Path left you alone?"

"Technically. They came around once to check up and make sure I wasn't harboring anything or anyone. Basic stuff."

"Good." She growled. "Because if they bothered you, I would shoot the Path leader myself!"

Jesse laughed loudly. "I know, KiKi. I know."

/ / /

Once they finally reached the bridge leading to the North, Tahki suddenly started preparing her small handgun, checking to make sure it was loaded and ready to fire.

"I wouldn't do that if they're there." Jesse warned her. "That wouldn't bode well with any Golden Path in the North. Then you really _will_ be hunted."

Tahki loaded the magazine by hitting it with her knee and quickly checked to make sure the safety was off. "Hey, if they fire first," she placed the grip between her knees and racked the handgun. "They're asking for it."

As they approached the gate, Tahki made sure to hide the gun just slightly underneath her right leg. She didn't want to send any wrong messages if they didn't recognize her.

Jesse looked around. "I don't think anyone's here, Tahki."

"Then get your rear in gear!" She snapped. "We don't want to stay here for too long."

He slowly sped up the vehicle, watching just to make sure there weren't any sharp turns on the road. The roads just past the gate were on a mountain-side and they didn't have any protective railings, so if they missed a turn, _they missed a turn_.

Tahki looked over the edge of the mountain. "I don't get why it's colder up in Northern Kyrat; it's not that far from the South. The water is warm down south, too."

"Do you think the water is warm up here too, then?"

She _tsked_ and made a face at him. "You know what, how's about you stop the car and jump into the river, down there? Then you can tell me if it's warm or cold."

"I like living, thank you."

Another red jeep rounded the corner ahead of them, which sported a mounted rail gun. "Is the army starting to move down south?" Tahki asked.

"I doubt it." Jesse replied. "They barely have the North under control!"

An arm suddenly stuck out from the drivers' window. It took them both a moment to notice that whoever was driving the vehicle had a gun in his hand.

Taki tensed up and grabbed her own handgun. "Jesse..."

"I see it!"

As the two vehicles passed one another, the man in the red jeep started firing at them, making Jesse flinch as the glass beside him shattered into small pieces. Tahki rapidly unbuckled her seat belt and leaned out of her window and started firing back, trying to aim for weak points on the vehicle.

The red jeep turned sharply, briefly driving on two wheels before it landed safely back onto the ground. A person in the passenger side leaned out his own window and started shooting at them with a shotgun.

Tahki quickly pulled herself back inside the vehicle. "Now that's just cheating!"

"Just shoot them!" He shouted.

She rolled her eyes before popping out the side window again, shooting at the windshield of the red jeep. If she was lucky, she would hit either the driver or the passenger. Either one would do, really.

The passenger fired as soon as she came back outside the window, breaking the side-view mirror off the jeep. Tahki sniffed. "Bad aim, guys!"

Just before she could shoot, Jesse roughly turned onto a small side road, tossing her back into the jeep. "Try to keep her steady, eh?"

"You try driving under fire!" He snapped.

Tahki pushed herself back out the window, just catching the red jeep turn the corner. At least we're away from the cliff edge, she thought. She then aimed the gun and fired a round. She immediately saw the passenger fall limp against the window edge and dropped the shotgun from his hands. She quickly pulled herself back in and started to reload the magazine. "Hopefully the driver is too focused on the road to do anything..." She muttered.

"Just give the gun here; no sense in wasting time!"

She quickly handed Jesse the handgun and, keeping a sure grip on the steering wheel, he started shooting at the driver of the jeep, which briefly skidded as the bullets broke through the windshield.

He pulled the trigger a few times only to hear the clicking of an empty chamber. He pulled himself back in and tossed the gun onto her lap. "Okay, _now_ you can reload!"

As quickly as she could with a shaky vehicle (which wasn't meant for going off-road), she reloaded her handgun and looked into the rear-view mirror. "How did he manage to get so close? How fast are you going?"

"Fast enough!"

Tahki decided to take the proximity to her advantage. Looking out of her window, she looked back to see that the jeep behind them was just in a close enough range. Pointing her gun, she aimed down low to the one spot that could very well end the chase.

She quickly shot at the front tire and pulled herself back into the jeep, looking into the rear view mirror. The jeep could be heard skidding across the dirt as the driver attempted to regain control. Satisfied with her work, Tahki smirked. "You're welcome."

The jeep behind them suddenly turned harshly on its wheels, making the back end spin out of control. Jesse tried steering out of the way, but the back end of the red jeep clipped their vehicle.

Jesse immediately shifted the gear on the car and tried moving into the direction it was swerving. "Fuck!" He cursed.

Their jeep tipped onto two of its wheels and then completely overturned itself, rolling continuously across the road. Jesse attempted to hold onto his seat belt, hoping and praying it wouldn't suddenly unbuckle itself. Tahki was being mercilessly tossed around like a ragdoll, rolling along with the jeep itself. She just kept _hitting_ things; the seat, the dash, the window, almost everything that her body could touch, before she was suddenly thrown through the open window of her door, causing her to skid and roll over the gravel path.

It felt like forever, but the momentum was finally lost and she landed harshly onto her stomach, briefly sliding across the ground before she came to a full stop. A deep, low growl escaped her throat as a searing pain ripped through her whole body. What did I manage to break? She thought.

Opening her eyes, she saw that the jeep had also came to a stop, thanks to a thick tree it crashed into. Thankfully, no smoke or flames could be seen. Gritting her teeth, Tahki attempted to crawl over to the jeep. It was only a few meters away but in her state, it felt like miles.

"Jesse!" She hollered. With a small shout of pain, she managed to lift herself up onto her feet. "Jesse!" She shouted again.

"You don't need to fucking yell, I'm right here!" He shouted back.

Jesse attempted to unbuckle his seat belt, but it refused to release. "Fuck..." He cursed. Sucking in his gut, he grabbed at the edge of his door and wiggled out of the seat belt, crawling out of the window and falling flat onto his back. Tahki... she had been without a seat belt.

He suddenly shot up from the ground. "Tahki, are you okay?!"

Despite that he had gone through the same ordeal she had, she couldn't help but be bitter. "No, I'm bleeding, dumbass!"

He stumbled to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are lucky to be alive! You shouldn't have taken off your seat belt!"

Tahki rolled her eyes and grimaced at the pain in her arm. "I'm still alive. I'm fine."

"You have glass sticking out of your hand!" He exclaimed. "You're bleeding almost everywhere, I hardly call that fine!"

She furrowed her brows. "Glass?" She then raised her hand up to see a shard of glass, at least five inches, sticking straight through her palm and the back of her hand. "It's funny... I can't even feel it..." She said.

"You're in shock, KiKi." Jesse explained. "We need to get you to the nearest hospital or medical center!"

Tahki looked around them. Nice and sunny, of course, but they were surrounded by nothing but mountainous hills, tall trees, small bushes and green grass. "How close are we to civilization, though?" She asked. "And would those villages even have a doctor there? And how far is it? Jess, we don't even have a car to get us there!"

The familiar sound of a vehicle could be heard and Jesse laughed breathlessly. "Speak of the devil..."

As the vehicle rounded the corner, as did another and another. One of them was a jeep, the other two were trucks. One thing they had in common, was that they were red. Last vehicle that approached them that was red, wasn't very friendly.

Tahki grabbed at Jesse's shirt. "Run..." She said.

They turned around to take off down the path, but they stopped as there were three more vehicles approaching them on that side, as well. They were red as well, and two were jeeps with mounted guns. The third one was also a truck.

They both kept turning their heads, looking between the two caravans. "Not home for a day and I'm already in shit with the law..." Tahki muttered.

She always had trouble with the Royal Army, even before Kyrat went to shit. When she first came to Kyrat, at first she was caught in illegal fights. Then she was caught stealing food. And then she was caught in a shack she wasn't supposed to be in (which she didn't know was some Military outspost). As she got older she became more mature, but if any soldiers trash-talked her or tried to make any advances towards her, she would always be more than ready to pick a fight.

With a loud groan, Tahki just collapsed to the ground, far too tired and in far too much pain to care. "Jesse, you have my gun, right?"

"No, you had it last!"

"Then we're both as good as dead."

All of the vehicles stopped within a few meters of the two people, and soldiers poured from them, guns in their hands, ready to shoot either one of them. "Well, it was nice knowing you, Jesse." She breathed out. "I guess I'll be seeing you in Hell."

Four soldiers approached them, their guns still pointed at them. "On the ground, hands up!" One of them shouted.

Jesse did as instructed, getting onto his knees and keeping his hands up. One soldier quickly grabbed his wrists and tied them behind his back, almost a little too roughly.

Tahki felt someone kick at her leg. "You, on your knees, hands raised!"

She laughed grimly. "I only have one hand."

"KiKi, this is no time for jokes!" Jesse hissed. "Just do as he says."

She sighed heavily and sat up, shifting her knees underneath her and raising her glass-pierced hand. The soldier who had told her to get up asked, "What do I do with her?"

Tahki scoffed. The one benefit of having only one arm, she couldn't be tied up.

One man approached her, the gravel crunching underneath the weight of his shoes. She looked up to him, a venomous gleam in her eyes. What did he have in his hand?

Without warning, the soldier stabbed her in the neck with a needle, making her yelp in pain. "The hell was that for?!" She growled.

"Get them into the jeep."

Tahki could feel someone grab her arm, forcing her up and towards one of their vehicles. Her vision was starting to become blurry. It most certainly wasn't her eyesight...

Did they give her a drug?

She was pushed into the back of the jeep, the door slamming shut behind her. Whatever they gave her, it was working absolute wonders on her brain! Whatever pain she was in was no longer existent, everything around her was spinning.

She looked around the vehicle and saw a man with a bag over his head sitting beside her. "Jessss..." She slurred. "What did they...?"

"It's alright, KiKi." He said. "Just stay calm, everything will..."

Whatever else he said flew completely over her head. She suddenly felt incredibly tired, her head feeling heavy, her sight growing dim. Without even realizing it, she stretched out across the seats, resting her head on Jesse's leg. "Drugs..."

Her eyes fell shut.

/ / /

There were voices. Booming voices. Why were they so loud? It almost sounded like a roar in her ears, like a tiger is just constantly roaring in her ears.

The roar soon turned into a dull hum as the voices grew quieter, almost to eh point where she could actually hear what they were saying.

"-the damn thing off! Can she even breathe?"

What thing? Who can't breathe?

Something was pulled off from her face and she winced as a bright light shone in her face. Her head hurt so badly. The light wasn't helping her, either.

"Jess..." She said, her voice suddenly hoarse.

"Right here!" He said. "But we're not alone."

"It's about bloody time she woke up. How much drugs did you put the poor girl on?"

Who was this person? Slowly opening her eyes, the bright light dimmed down enough to let her get a better look at her surroundings.

It was a dark red room. That's all she could really see. Dark red, most likely painted oak. Lots of pillars, some gold designs. She was at a table. A long one. Across from the table was an undoubtedly amazing view of the mountains!

Where the hell was she?

"So, so sorry for the manner in which you were brought here." The voice said, this time just behind her. "Really, my men just don't know how to follow orders."

As the dizziness and confusion wore off, the memories started flowing back to her. Crossing the bridge, getting shot at. The crash. Good lord, _the crash_. She had a shard of glass in her hand, which surprisingly didn't hurt anymore. She raised her hand to her face.

Bandaged. It was bandaged. But by whom? The soldiers couldn't have done that for her. Oh god, the soldiers. The Royal Army soldiers. They had been captured by them...

In a flash, Tahki shot up from whatever she had been sitting on. Before she could do anything else, she felt the head of a gun pressing against the side of her skull.

"Oh, put that away. If she does manage to run, she'll be dead in two minutes."

Hesitantly, the gun moved away from her head. "Sit." The soldier hissed.

She reluctantly complied. "Who the hell are you?" She demanded.

"Oh, of course you wouldn't recognize me by my voice. Your friend would, however. I think I met him once. Nearly killed him, but he had an honest air about him."

"Gee, thanks." She heard Jesse mumble.

As the man walked around from behind her, Tahki snapped her head around. "I'll ask again; who the hell are you? And where am I?"

What kind of a man dressed in pink? Lots of it. Or was it crimson? Either way, it was just a lot of pink, one of her least favourite colours. Pink shirt, pink pants, thankfully he didn't have pink shoes. More like maroon. There was a cream shirt underneath the pink one. Or perhaps ivory. He had slightly tanned skin, but it still looked like he barely got outside. Most of his head was shaved, save for the top part. The shaved areas were black, or dark brown. The hair that wasn't cut away was a platinum blonde.

Was this man trying to make people go blind?!

The man turned on his heel, giving her an almost condescending look. He placed his hands on the table and leaned in towards her. Was he wearing makeup?! "I don't believe you're in a very good position to be making demands."

"I never am, but I make them anyways." She snapped, her eyes narrowed and glaring.

The man smiled, a charming but at the same time, very dangerous smile. "I like your spirit, Tahki. So I'll humour you." The man sat down in a chair, folding his hands on top of the table. "You have heard of the... terrorists, yes? Well, of course you have, why else would you be in North Kyrat?"

Tahki stayed silent. If this man was only bluffing her, she best hold her tongue lest she give anything away.

"You see, after hearing about you and your coming into Kyrat, I figured that those terrorists would be after you." He chuckled. "You were a clever girl, being able to hide for so long. But you should've hidden for just a while longer."

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "This is answering nothing!"

His smile suddenly disappeared, his expression turning grim. "Did he not mention his work, your father? Or are you just choosing to forget."

Her brows furrowed. Of course, the bastard spoke enough of his work, but what did that have to do with anything? She then briefly remembered the young man that had spoken to she and Jesse earlier that day. _"Your father did work for the King many years ago."_

Her eyes widened slightly and a ghost of a gasp escaped her lips. This did not go unnoticed by him.

Pagan Min raised an eyebrow. "Ring a bell, now?"

Tahki snapped her head to Jesse, who only shrugged helplessly. This man, the one who had them captured... was Pagan Min.

In an instant, her heart turned ice cold and her expression turned dark, her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a snarl. "I don't care who you are." She stood from the table, leaning in threateningly. "You had absolutely _no right_ to get me or my friend almost killed!" She growled.

He sighed. "As I said, my men don't listen to orders very well. I told them to stop you, not shoot you."

"I _really_ couldn't care less." She glowered. "And unless you want to be the one getting shot, I suggest you let me and Jesse walk out of this place. I may not look like much, but if I wanted to, I could break your neck and kill your guard before you could even count to three!"

Pagan laughed, then, loudly and jubilantly. "Oh, I _like_ you." He stood from his own chair. "I know for a fact that you could, Tahki. But, you see, with those terrorists knowing of your presence in Kyrat, you wouldn't last a day out there. That's why I placed it upon myself to keep both you and your friend protected. It's the least I can do, of course, for your father. He would no doubt want his little girl safe." He went to place a hand on her shoulder, but she instantly smacked his hand away.

"Even if my father was alive, he wouldn't care." She hissed.

"Well, regardless, you are staying under my protection until the matter with the terrorists is taken care of."

"We don't need your 'protection'."

"You don't have a choice in the matter."

"I could just kill you."

The head of the gun was pointed against her skull, once again. "And if you don't get that thing out of my face," She turned around and glared at the soldier. "I will take your soul and sell it to the devil himself for a fucking dime!"

For a short instant, the soldier backed away from Tahki. Jesse cleared his throat. "I wouldn't put that past her, either; she could take your soul just by looking at you."

"Shut up!"

He flinched away from her. "Look, KiKi, I'm thinking we should just listen to this guy." When she glared, he shrugged. "This is his palace, the most defended area in Kyrat. We won't be able to make it out of here alive even if we tried. Come on, use your common sense."

She huffed heavily. If Jesse was right (and he was rarely wrong), then there really was no way to get out of this situation. Pagan Min _appeared_ to be friendly enough that he wouldn't hurt them, which was a helluva lot better than risking it out there with the Golden Path. By the sounds of it, Sabal wasn't the most friendliest person around. She could very well end up dead. Or worse.

Pagan waited patiently for her answer, seeing that she was most likely in charge. Or at the very least, the majority of final decisions were hers to make. He already knew what it would be, of course, but he still waited. No sense in rushing the poor girl; she had been through a lot, already. No need for pressure.

Tahki shot the man a threatening look. "If there's some sort of catch with us staying here..."

"I assure you, there are none. Unless you wish for there to be, then it can certainly be arranged."

She eyed him up, almost as if she were inspecting him. He was a very difficult man to read. Most psychotic men were, but they would at least betray a little bit of _something_. Not him, though. He was either really well practiced, or the drugs were still having some sort of effect on her brain. "Fine. But if there's something I see or hear that I don't like, Jesse and I are packing up and leaving."

Pagan's face suddenly brightened. "Ah, speaking of packing, my men salvaged your destroyed vehicle and managed to fish out your belongings. They're in your rooms." He clapped his hands together. "Now, with that all out of the way, I have some business to attend to."

Tahki watched in disbelief as he walked nonchalantly out of the room, almost as if nothing had happened. What was wrong with this man?!

The guard cut the ropes that tied Jesse to the chair. "You know, you really need to learn to cool your jets." He said, rubbing at his wrists. "I get it, you don't like him. But could you at least be a little, I don't know, _civil_?"

"You know, for a man who's hated by a lot of people, he sure is trusting." She muttered.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Either that, or he's just ignorant..."

Jesse sighed and turned to the guard who, in return, just gave him a blank stare. "Such welcoming people..." He mumbled.

"You two are to follow me." The guard said.

Tahki placed her hand on her hip and turned around. "And who is 'me'?"

He visibly hesitated. He wasn't used to people asking for his first name. At all. Then again, he wasn't used to just escorting prisoners. "Ronin."

"Alright, well, if we're to follow you..." She gestured with her hand. "Lead on."


	3. Dinner and a Show

Tahki rooted through her two luggage bags, desperately looking for the one thing that could alleviate her stress levels. Pagan had said they retrieved their luggage (they meaning the soldiers), so she wouldn't be surprised if they ransacked them to check for any weapons and the like.

Ronin wasn't exactly the most talkative of people. Not very surprising, however, as he was one of Pagan Min's soldiers. But it made the walk to their rooms very awkward. Like, how long does one need hallways to be before they're satisfied?

Her room was fairly big, as well. If this was only a guest room, she could only imagine what Pagan's room was like! Tahki was about five-foot-eight, and if she were to put the height of the room to length, it was about three times taller than her! Her bedroom both back in Canada and in the little shack in the south were only a couple feet taller than she was.

The room itself must have been at least thirty feet by thirty feet, if not forty feet. It made sense, though, to fit the bed, the desk, the dresser, the closet and bathroom. There was also a little terrace overlooking the mountains jut behind a pair of doors. The closet was a walk in closet, of course, and the bathroom was a room all on its own. However, the bed was massive! At least, to her it was. She was used to sleeping in a bed that could just fit two people (and she had an odd habit of sleeping on only one side). This bed, could fit maybe two fully grown adults and their two dogs, possibly even just three fully grown adult _men_.

The colours, oh heavens, the _colours_ of the room. It wasn't a bad colour scheme, but it was more colours than what any bedroom needed! The bed frame was mahogany, painted over in a clear stain to give it a little bit of extra shine. The bed sheets were a deep maroon and the pillows (and there were two big ones and a third small one) were mahogany. The bedroom walls were painted in a garnet red, and along the bottom and tops of the walls (where the walls met the ceiling and the floor) there were golden designs. Not a bright gold, but a dull, bronzed gold. The designs weren't too big, however, and the shape of them were pleasing to the eye.

There were heavy curtains (currently pulled back to let the light in) in front of the double-doors that lead to the terrace. They were walnut brown (which, surprisingly, didn't clash with the paint of the walls. Brown and red never mixed, in Tahki's opinion). The desk was also a mahogany, and had a black leather rolling chair to go with it. The dresser had a large mirror spanning the entire length of it, the trim around it a nice bronze. The dresser itself was a somewhat lighter brown, she guessed an antique cherry.

The entire room had a 'royalty' feeling with it, and it made her feel completely uncomfortable.

Tahki let out a short breath as she finally pulled out the item she had been looking for. "Thank you for not taking this..." She mumbled.

She removed the tape that held the spoon to the large jar and then opened the lid, tossing it off to the side. Then she sat cross-legged on top of the bed and placed the jar between her legs and began to dig in. It most likely wasn't a good idea to be eating this without milk, but she didn't care.

As soon as she got the first mouthful in, she heard a knock on her door. "KiKi?"

She quickly swallowed. "I need to be left alone, right now, Jesse!"

Her friend ignored her and opened the door into her room, quickly closing it behind him and crossing his arms. "You know, you really need to find something else to munch on when you're upset. Peanut Butter isn't exactly healthy."

Tahki gave him a blank stare and scooped out a large glob of peanut butter. Almost like the way a child would do to their scolding parent, she ate the peanut butter off of the spoon. "I don't care. I'm already pudgy." She stated (which, through a mouthful of peanut butter, sounded more like 'Uh jun car, uhm awredee puh-she'). She wasn't the most fit of women, being a little soft around the middle, but she 'made up for it' with upper and lower body strength (as Jesse once told her).

Jesse sighed and placed himself beside her. "You should maybe change, too. It won't be easy getting those blood stains out."

She simply shrugged and scooped out another spoonful of peanut butter. The instant she was in her room, she just bolted to her luggage for her peanut butter. She didn't care that her clothes were dirty in that moment. Ripped jeans could wash out easy and her purple sweater didn't show the stains too much.

"How's your hand doing?"

She stuck the spoon into the peanut butter and examined her hand. There was a little bit of red staining the bandages, but other than that, there wasn't much visible damage. "It should feel like my hand is falling off," she replied. "But it doesn't. It's really just a dull ache. Whoever did the bandaging must've really known what they were doing."

Jesse winced, rubbing at his own hand. "That _was_ a pretty big shard of glass."

She nodded. "Well, it's gone now."

Silence passed between the two friends and she resumed to eat her peanut butter, but in smaller spoonfuls. It was almost supper, and Tahki doubted that Pagan would starve the both of them. No, judging from their earlier encounter, he'd try to be hospitable.

"What do you think Pagan's intentions are? I mean, with us?"

She swallowed the peanut butter and sighed. She quickly licked off the spoon and wrapped the tape back around it onto the jar. "I really don't know." She replied, placing the lid back onto the jar. "He knew my father, by the sounds of it. But I doubt that's why we're here. My father was a bastard."

Jesse hesitated, wanting to choose his next words carefully. Tahki's father was always a sensitive subject to talk about and, although she tries to control her temper, the memories of what he had done can often make her a bit emotional. "Well... he could have been a bit... _different_ when he was working for Pagan. They could have known each other on a more personal level."

She scoffed. "I doubt it."

Jesse opened his mouth to say something else until another knock came at her door. She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Who is it?"

"The King has ordered for me to escort you to the dining room." Ronin stated. "Immediately."

They gave each other a look. "What do you think?" She asked.

He shrugged and stood from the bed. "Well, you know me; I'm not one to turn down free food. Plus, I'm also starving."

/ / /

She really did decide to get changed, after kicking Jesse out of the room of course. If Pagan was inviting them to dinner (technically speaking, of course), then she may as well look at least half-presentable instead of staying in the same, blood-covered clothes.

She got out one of her better pair of jeans, deep dark blue in colour and wore a pair of black flats to go with them. She was deciding whether or not to just wear the tank-top she had on underneath her sweater, but then she reminded herself of her arm, or lack thereof. Jesse had been the only person to see her without some sort of covering over her 'non-arm' (as he had dubbed it), and she planned to keep it that way.

So, she decided to wear her autumn-coloured sweater shirt. She was tempted to put on makeup, but decided against it as the lipstick would wipe off anyhow.

Tahki remembered once when one of her friends back in Canada had asked if she could borrow her sweater shirt, but of course, she had to say no. Not a lot of people noticed (or noticed, but never really registered) that the left sleeves of all of her shirts and sweaters were cut down or closed off by her tailor. She absolutely despised the feeling of a loose sleeve, and she didn't like how cool air would always hit her non-arm, so she managed to find someone who could fix her clothes for her.

Jesse had dressed up a bit more, wearing a pair of black pants and his blue plaid shirt. She had chuckled. "With that stubble, you look like a lumberjack."

As it had turned out, the room in which Tahki had first awoken in was the dining room. Not that it was bad, but it was just odd. The table had three plates and wine glasses set in front of three different chairs, two of which were beside each other and the third one being set across from the two. The food on the table gave off such a delightful aroma, it almost felt welcoming. The sight of the food made it much more so.

In the center was a plate of crab legs, underneath the crabs were some fresh greens and some warm vegetables surrounded the legs. Off to the right was a lovely Risotto, the scent of rosemary and mushrooms faint but noticeable. To the right of the crab legs was a large bowl of garden salad, complete with carrots, onions, cucumbers and black olives. Just in front of the salad was a small bowl of bread buns, with a little side-dish of butter in the center.

Well, he was certainly going all out! Tahki leaned towards Jesse, her voice just above the whisper. "What do you think this is all about?"

Jesse shrugged. "Beats me."

They took their seats beside each other and Ronin left them alone, closing the door behind as he did. With them being so much closer to the food, Tahki's mouth watered. "I can't hardly remember the last time I had seafood..." She said.

"Oh, get out of the doorway; they won't do anything!"

Suddenly, Jesse grabbed her knee and leaned towards her ear. "Don't talk to him like you did earlier. We don't need him angry."

She raised her eyebrows in a sarcastic manner. "Well, I can't exactly make any promises."

"Please, just try."

"I'm so, so glad you both made it without conflict!"

He gave her a light pat on the knee and smiled reassuringly.

As Pagan rounded the corner from the door, Tahki was half expecting the man to still be in his ridiculous pink suit. But no, he changed for their dinner. Her still had that ivory shirt on and, upon closer inspection, she could see it had some pink lines that formed a design. She couldn't tell if it made something, or if it was just a bunch of random swirls. He changed his pants as well and was now in black dress pants with a black leather belt. The shoes hadn't changed, but at least they didn't clash with the rest of the outfit.

And he really _was_ wearing makeup. Mascara, and some barely-there black eye shadow. And was that Mac Mocha lipstick? He also had an earring on his left ear.

He took his seat from across the two of them. "Now, I realize that, you know after you and being taken here, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. So, I decided, why not make up over dinner?"

Jesse raised his eyebrows. "Well, you certainly went all out."

He smiled and chuckled. "Only the best food in Kyrat." He gestured his hands to the food. "Please, dig in."

Tahki grabbed a few crab legs and a bread bun, with some salad on the side. She needed to make up for the peanut butter she ate.

Pagan cracked open one of the crab legs, pulling out the tender meat. Opening a crab leg took both hands and he was fairly interested to see how Tahki got along. Of course, he hadn't planned the meal, but it was an afterthought as the table had been prepared.

Tahki grabbed one crab leg and squeezed the leg, much like how one would squeeze a nutcracker, so the joint broke. Then, using her finger, she ran it down the soft side of the shell, allowing for the meat to slip out with ease. How long had the woman been with one arm?

He sharply reminded himself that staring was rude and he proceeded to eat his meal. One thing that the dinner needed, he realized, was conversation. What good was a make-up dinner without some good and lighthearted conversation? "So, Tahki, tell me a little bit about Canada. I've always wanted to visit, but I never really found the time." He bit into his crab leg, waiting patiently for her answer.

Jesse gave her a small look and bumped his knee into hers. "KiKi." He whispered.

She grabbed another crab leg and, for whatever reason, pointed the joint-end towards him. "What?" She asked. "I thought you said for me not to talk to him." She cracked the leg.

A splinter of the leg hit Jesse just under his chin, making him flinch at the sharp and sudden pain. He rubbed at the spot. "I said don't talk to him like you did earlier..." He muttered.

She suppressed a sigh. "Well, Canada is a four-season country. It can be scorching hot in the summer and blistering cold in the winter. Spring is always lovely, as is the fall. Lots of colours."

"Where exactly did you live in Canada?"

"You knew my father, you already probably know." She snapped.

Jesse gently moved his chair an inch further from Tahki, casually taking a bite of his own crab leg. He gave her a fair warning, but he didn't take into account her temper. If she got into an even worse mood, he didn't want to be near her in case she needed to hit someone. And he especially didn't want it to be him.

"Just thought I would try to make some... light conversation." Pagan smiled, almost a little too nicely.

"So you do know where I lived."

"No, I never kept such close tabs on your father."

Jesse inched away from her a bit further. She could get angry, but _especially_ when her father was brought up.

Tahki cracked open another crab leg, a little more viciously. "And yet you kept close enough tabs to know he had a daughter."

Pagan grabbed a bread bun and split it open, the steam rising from the soft, flaky pulp. "I heard he was adopting." He spread a little bit of butter on the bread. "What were you, fifteen when you were adopted?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I was adopted at fifteen, in the year of 1993."

Jesse sniffed. "And she keeps pretty well for her age."

She suddenly smacked his leg. "Shut up." She snapped. "You're not any better; you're thirty-four!"

"That's a three year difference, KiKi. I'm still younger." He countered.

Tahki shook her head and turned her attention back to Pagan, who was waiting patiently for them to finish their conversation. "What, so were you stalking me? Or my father? Or did he pass on information because of his former work."

"I only knew he adopted. Which I find rather interesting, considering he wasn't married."

Jesse snapped his crab leg a little too hard at that. He and Tahki had talked about that, once, the fact that she never had a mother and her father never mentioned having a wife, which is most likely what lead to him... Jesse shuddered. Bad memories, which only meant a bad reaction.

Tahki's eyes narrowed slightly and her fingers gently clawed at the table. "Yeah, funny thing." She said, dryly.

Pagan tilted his head slightly, his platinum hair moving along with him. "I'm curious, did he ever find someone? Terrible thing to die alone."

Something seemed off about where the conversation was going. Pagan Min was a somewhat psychotic man, but Jesse knew that he wasn't one for simple 'small talk'. There was always something behind whatever he was saying, his first encounter with him was evidence enough of that. But what exactly was he getting at this time around?

Her expression hardened. "No. And he very well deserved it."

Jesse shrunk back in his seat, quietly sucking back some crab leg. He was waiting for one more question before she suddenly blew up.

The sound of gunfire and mortar fire could be heard outside and, in that instant, the doors to the dining room burst open. "King Min!"

The King's face went from mild contentment to utter disgust in an instant. "What is it, now?"

The soldier, out of breath, replied, "Rebels are attacking the palace, sir!"

Pagan gave the soldier an incredulous look. "Then go outside and take care of it! As if the mortar fire wasn't damn loud enough, you had to waste valuable time and run all the way in here and tell me!" He stood from his chair. "Well, don't just stand there, _get going_!"

The soldier immediately took off, not wanting to upset him any further. With an annoyed sigh, Pagan said, "Terribly sorry for the rude interruption. Just stay and enjoy your meal, I'll be back momentarily."

Tahki watched as the man left the room, her eyes seeming like they were trying to burn holes into his back. The instant the door closed, she suddenly grabbed a knife and stabbed it into the table. "The _nerve_ of that guy!" She seethed.

"I don't think he knows..." He mumbled.

She immediately slapped his knee. "Not him, you twit! Yes, especially him, but the nerve of the Golden Path people! It's bad enough they practically drove us out of our home, but now they're going as far as attempting to storm the palace to get to me!"

"How do you know they're here for you, though?" Jesse asked her. "I mean, sure, it looks bad, but this could just be a regular thing for Pagan."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You wanna know how I know they're after me?" Releasing her grip on the knife, Tahki stood from her chair and straightened out her shirt. She then walked out of the dining room, with Jesse following close behind her. "Whatever you're planning on doing," he said, "it's a bad idea."

"It's the bad ideas that make the best stories, Jess." She replied. "And this one will make for an interesting tale."

/ / /

"KiKi, you're going to get shot."

"What else is new?"

"This time it'll be lethal."

"I just survived what should have been a fatal car crash." She retorted. "I'm pretty sure I can survive a bullet or two."

"That was just you getting lucky!"

"I'm willing to press my luck just a bit further."

He sighed heavily and shook his head. For as long as he had known her, Jesse had been the voice of logic and reason for Tahki. She was smart and independent, but when she was angry, she tended to act on most of her impulses. Most of the time he could talk her out of whatever she planned on doing, but whenever he didn't or couldn't, that's when he knew she was more than just angry. More like in a fit of rage.

Some of the firefight had died down, but they could both see that there was definitely a few Golden Path fighters here and there. There was also bodies. Lots of bodies. And blood. Why did there always have to be so much blood?

"So, since I'm not talking you out of this, what is it you're planning on doing?"

Tahki pulled her leather glove on with her teeth, clenching her hand into a fist repetitively to get the tightness out of it. She then pointed. "You see that big cage? The one with the blue tarp?"

Jesse winced. "Yeah. What about it?"

"There's bound to be something big in there." She explained. "If I get down there and get that lock off, it could wreak absolute havoc on those guys!"

"Or it could eat you, first." He shook his head again, clearly disapproving of her plan. "Tahki, come on, how are you even going to get down there?"

They were both currently on the terrace outside of her room. It wasn't as high up as she thought it was, but it was high enough. "Why do you think I put the glove on?"

He let out a small gasp, but before he could grab her Tahki had swung herself over the ledge of the terrace and dropped herself down.

He rushed to look over the edge, half expecting to see her broken body. Instead, Jesse was met with a smiling Tahki who was hanging onto the branch of a tree that was below the terrace. He let out a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that!" He exclaimed.

She smiled mischievously "Just keeping you on your toes." She then continued to slowly let herself fall down, grabbing onto whatever branches she could. It was a strong oak tree, but with the cold weather outside, the branches could easily be brittle.

As she slid down a thick branch, she looked down to see a Golden Path fighter sneaking along the palace walls. Smart kid, she thought. In an instant, she jumped down from the tree and landed directly on top of the fighter, smashing his head into the ground and knocking him out. She immediately searched his body and retrieved a pistol. "You won't be needing this."

She didn't have the key for the lock, so she had to find some way to get it open.

As she jumped and ducked from cover to cover, she could start to clearly hear the Golden Path shouting at each other; the positions of the enemy, when there was a grenade, or the occasional 'cover me, reloading!'. How many magazines did it take for them to actually hit someone?

"Sabal, their numbers are too great! We need to pull back!"

Tahki slid behind a stack of crates, peering just over the edge to see two men hiding behind a stone wall just a few meters ahead of her. And just a few meters off to her right, was the cage with the blue tarp. She could clearly hear the creature inside growling angrily at the two humans in its sight. Whatever it was, it sounded hungry.

The one man had a blue bandanna around his head and had the usual blue jacket with the golden symbol. For the life of her, she still couldn't distinguish its shape! The other man, however, had his hair pulled back slightly and his jacket almost looked black rather than blue, although it sported the same golden symbol. But which one was Sabal? Or did they speak into a walkie-talkie?

Tahki then crouched, silently moving along the ground until she was flush against the cage. Upon peering inside, she saw a large, striped tiger. The creatures ears perked up and it stood up, interested in the human that had come so close to his cage. He then licked his chops.

"We can't pull back until we find Gagné!"

Standing up, she kicked the door of the cage, further agitating the hungry cat and making it jump against the door. "Hey, you dumbasses want me?!"

The two men snapped around, their guns poised and ready.

She smiled, evilly. "Looks like you'll have to wait."

Tahki shot the lock on the cage door.

She barely managed to get out of the way before the tiger burst out from his cage, roaring loudly, almost as if in warning. Immediately the two men men made a run for it, the one in the bandanna shouting, "Tiger!"

In his mad rush to get away from the beast, the young soldier tripped and, seeing that his prey had stumbled, the tiger leapt onto the man and bit down onto his arm, making him scream out in pain. The other man, seeing his partner being attacked, immediately began shooting the beast with his assault rifle, letting out a loud, war-like cry.

She slowly backed up as she saw the events unfold. It seemed like a good idea at first, but actually seeing the chaos the tiger could unleash, up close, it was almost enough to make her sick. She hadn't even expected it to nab anyone, just chase them.

In her distraction, she had failed to realize that the man in the dark jacket had succeeded in killing the tiger. Unfortunately, however, he was far too late as the creature had mauled the fighter to death. His blood seeped from the grievous wounds, staining the ground a deep crimson.

The man in the dark jacket glared pure daggers at Tahki, who only shook her head and backed up further.

"You better be glad for your name, or I would have shot you." He seethed.

She stood up straighter, not wanting to show any weakness with this man. "And who is 'I'?"

He pointed his gun at her. "That does not matter. You will either come with me, or I will shoot you."

She pointed her handgun at him. "I doubt it, considering you Golden Path want me so badly. And even if you do, I'll also shoot."

They ignore the sound of bullets around them, ignore the distant sound of mortar fire, ignore the various shouts and cries of pain as a bullet hit their marks. He's hellbent on taking Tahki back as a prisoner, and she was hellbent on figuring out who he was and why he was so determined to kidnap her.

The man in front of her was clearly conflicted. Like his fallen comrade had said, the Golden Path was outnumbered and their numbers were dwindling. However, his target, his goal, was standing right in front of him. He was tempted to just step forward, to capture her then and there, but if she was anything like her father, she would have no fear and open fire on him. That was something he couldn't risk, not since Ajay left Kyrat.

"Now, we can do this the easy way," she said, "or, of course, the hard way. You could, maybe, call off your men and run with your tails between your legs back to your boss. Or-"

" _Our_ boss?" The man interrupted. "I am the boss."

Her brows furrowed in confusion and she blinked rapidly. From what Jesse had told her, the American boy that came to Kyrat did most of the leg work for the Golden Path. She expected the leader to be a coward and make all the soldiers do the work for him. But, if this man was speaking the truth, she may have underestimated him.

Once she thought about it, however, the last time the Golden Path had attempted to capture her (when she didn't know they were even trying to in the first place), they had failed. If she was that important to whatever cause they supported, then it made sense that the leader would want to go along and make sure the job was done right.

Her face changed from confusion to rage. "All the better for me, then. So, you can call off your assault." She took a threatening step forward. "Or, I could shoot you and your precious Golden Path will be- AGH!"

Tahki collapsed to the ground, the gun dropped and her hand holding her hip. Sabal stared in disbelief before looking towards the source of the shot.

A young man stood with a pistol in hand. "Sir, she was about to shoot you!" He exclaimed.

"And if you had killed her, we would lose the one thing that could win us this war!" Sabal shouted. Shaking his head, he walked over and kicked the gun away from Tahki's outstretched hand, pointing his own gun at her head. "You will come quietly."

She snarled. "Go to hell."

/ / /

The instant that Jesse saw that the tiger had been killed, he knew he had to get down there and help Tahki. She was a capable woman, but she could sometimes get ahead of herself. He peered over the terrace and down at the tree below it. He gulped. "Well, if she could do it..." He climbed over the ledge and stretched out his leg, hoping to touch something. "Here it goes..."

He had suddenly stretched his leg too far and his hands slipped from the edge of the metal fencing, making him yelp in surprise.

He hit various branches, snapping the majority that he had fallen on. He almost felt like a rag doll with the way he was being tossed around!

The fall was painful, but the landing was at least a bit softer than what it could have been. He fell onto his rear and rolled back, slightly, groaning in pain. "So gentle..." He moaned.

Jesse shook his head and stood up, running along the wall of the palace, hoping to high heavens that nobody would spot him and try to shoot him. All the while, he kept his eye on Tahki and Sabal just in case either of them tried to make a move.

He followed the movements that she had, ducking behind cover to cover, occasionally peering over to see how they were both doing. By the time he had reached the wall that Tahki had hid behind, that's when he noticed the fighter pointing a gun at her. And before he could do anything, he shot her.

He had held back a shout by covering his mouth with his hand. The last thing needed was him getting shot as well. He looked over the ledge to see her doubled over in pain, blood oozing between her fingers and onto the ground. She had tried to reach for the gun, but Sabal approached her and kicked the gun away from her.

And directly over to Jesse.

Getting down onto his hands and knees, he reach around and grabbed the handgun, quickly checking the magazine. One bullet; of course, it always had to be one bullet! He could either shoot Sabal or the man who had shot Tahki.

"Go to hell." He heard her say.

Jesse stood up from behind his cover. "Hey!"

He pulled the trigger, killing the man that had shot her. He then pointed the gun to a very shocked Sabal. "One move and I drop you!" He bluffed.

With a pained gasp, Tahki reached over and grabbed the pistol that the fighter had dropped, crawling away from Sabal. She stood beside Jesse and laughed, pointing the pistol "So, about that little deal..."

Damn this woman, he thought. He had underestimated her. And he also didn't know that she had an accomplice. If he had known that, he might have come a little more prepared.

With a defeated growl, he shouted at the top of his lungs, " _Pull back_!"

With a final glare, he turned and ran across the palace courtyard, followed by several other Golden Path fighters, some of which still attempted to fire at the Royal Army soldiers. As they retreated, Jesse turned Tahki so she was facing him. "What were you thinking?!" He hissed.

"I thought I told you what I was going to do..." She said.

As the soldiers emptied led into the air in victory, Jesse sighed and shook his head. "You're crazy." He grabbed her arm and placed it over his shoulders. "Clinically."

She _tsked_. "I can walk."

"We need to keep you off your feet; no telling how deep that bullet went."

As they approached the group of soldiers, they both caught sight of Pagan Min, who had donned a black leather jacket and leather gloves. He had blood splattered on his face, something he did not seem too disturbed about. He suddenly glared at the two of them. "Do you ever listen?" He asked.

"She's shot." Jesse explained, ignoring Pagan's question. "She needs some medical attention!"

"I told you, to stay and enjoy your meal." He stated, slowly approaching them. "And that I would be back momentarily. I am very particular about my words, Miss Gagné. If you'd have just listened, you would not have a bullet lodged inside you."

"Fuck you." She cursed at him.

Pagan _tsked_ disapprovingly. "Now, there's no need for that sort of language."

Jesse shuffled his feet impatiently. "Tahki. Medical attention. Now."

Pagan waved his hand dismissively and turned on his heel. "I'm certain you can sort that out yourselves. I have more important things to worry about."

He stared disbelievingly at the King as he started ordering the soldiers around. "The nerve of that guy!"

Tahki chuckled. "Funny. I recall saying that not too long ago..."


	4. Death and Pain

Tahki hissed loudly, her hand clenching the bed sheets as the bullet was pulled from her hip. What kind of a gun had he used to make it go that deep?!

Jesse made a slight groan of disgust. "You better be glad there wasn't any shrapnel. It could've been a lot worse; I might have had to use the scalpel!"

"I've been through worse, Jess." She snapped. "This is nothing."

He sighed heavily and tossed the bullet into the waste basket, washing the tweezers in rubbing alcohol. "I know, KiKi. Girl, you need to learn that pain is natural; ain't no shame in saying something hurts." He then started patching the bullet wound up, carefully placing the gauze and bandages over it.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time Jesse has had to stitch her up. No, he's done this quite a few times. He was by no means a professional, but he knew enough medical procedures and treatments to keep them both alive if they got hurt. He knew how to clean wounds and stitch gashes. Of course, before he started treating her bullet wound, Jesse had put some fresh and clean bandages over her hand.

Some days, she swore that he was like a mother hen!

They heard a knock at the door as it opened. "Hello!" A sing-song voice called out.

Tahki grabbed a scalpel. "Get out!" She shouted, throwing the scalpel at the door.

Pagan halted in stepping into the room as the blade embedded into the wooden door frame with a dull _thump_. He sighed in annoyance. "You do realize how expensive that was..."

"Get out!" She repeated.

The King ignored the woman and stepped into the room. He was back in the ivory suit and he cleaned his face up. He was still wearing that damn makeup, though. "Sorry about all that mess. That Golden Path, those terrorists, they tend to barge in at the worst of times."

Tahki stood and rapidly pulled up her jeans. "Hm, I wonder why." She then held up her finger as if proving a point. "Ah, I think I know; their quote-on-quote 'king', is making their lives a living hell and they want him dead. That ever cross your mind?"

Jesse tapped her leg and shook his head, taking the medical supplies and taking them back into the bathroom. Tahki sighed and put her hand in her pocket. "Sorry..." She mumbled. "It's just been a long day for me. A _really_ long day."

Pagan slowly approached the woman, his hands clasped together. "We all have those off days, I'm certain."

Some more than others, she thought. "Mhm."

He stopped so he was just in front of her, staring her down. "I came here just to tell you one thing; although you were incredibly fucking stupid in completely ignoring what I told you to do,"

She glared but he held two fingers to her lips. "You handled yourself quite well."

He heard her growl before she snapped at him. He barely got his fingers out of the way and her teeth clacked together harshly. He couldn't help but smile at the woman. "Brash and fiery. I like it."

Before she could say anything else to him, Pagan turned on his heel and left the room. "Sleep well!" He called back.

Tahki growled and clenched her fist. The nerve of that man!

Jesse just barely caught her vocalized frustration as he came out of the bathroom. "KiKi, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Is he gay?"

He quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head. "What?"

She turned to him, a venom in her eyes. "He wears a shit-ton of pink, wears makeup, wears v-necks, dyes his hair like a punk, the only thing he doesn't do is wear pink nail polish. Is he gay?"

Jesse shrugged slightly and made a face. "I mean, _I'm_ gay, but I don't wear makeup or dye my hair. And I _especially_ don't wear pink. And his attitude? I think he's just what you've called him; psychotic. I mean, he could be bisexual. Why, did he do anything?"

"He acts like you do around me; so casual, like any contact he makes isn't some sort of flirtatious or odd behaviour."

"So? Like you said, he acts like I do."

She sighed and plopped down onto the bed. "Yeah, but we've been friends for, what, twenty-three years? Hell, we've lived in the same house for most of the time we've known each other and we've slept on the couch together and it wasn't weird. I've barely known him for a half day and we've only had a half-dinner. He scares the shit out of me, man!"

"Maybe he doesn't have any social limits, KiKi. Or he doesn't consider himself as flirtatious unless he is acting flirty."

"I don't care, Jesse! It almost scares me!"

He opened his mouth, almost ready to make a sarcastic remark, until he looked at her face. Tears. Dear god, if she cries...

He immediately sat beside her and took her hand in his own. "Hey, hey, Tahki, he's a murderer, but I know for a fact that he wouldn't go as far as... that."

"How do you know?"

"Because if he does, I'll choke him with his own socks."

Tahki chuckled. "Are his socks pink, too?"

He laughed along with her. "Probably." He then gave her a quick hug. "You get some sleep, alright? Who knows what may come tomorrow."

"Hopefully some warm weather. It's a lot colder up here than I thought."

/ / /

She slowly wandered into the dining room, yawning loudly and stretching out her arm. She was barely presentable for being around other people, he thought. A pair of flats, plaid pajama pants with a loose-fitting long sleeved shirt. It hung off of her shoulder, but he could see a tank-top strap. Her hair most certainly wasn't brushed. Maybe with her nails, but not with a decent brush. She was also wearing one of her leather gloves.

At least she made an effort.

The soldier that escorted her, Ronin, now stood just near the door and Tahki plunked herself in the chair beside Jesse. He cleared his throat. "Good morning, KiKi."

She grumbled in response.

He pushed a mug towards her. "Here's some coffee. Sugar, no cream."

She gratefully took the mug and sipped at it, sighing almost in a content manner. "Who wakes up this early on a Sunday?" She slurred, yawning once more.

Jesse filled up another mug with coffee and sipped at it. "It's eight o'clock..."

"Exactly."

She took another sip of her coffee. This is how most Sunday's went for them, only, they wouldn't be up until much later. And they wouldn't be in a palace. And Tahki wouldn't have a healing bullet wound on her hip or a healing wound on her hand. The glove really helped with keeping her hand more protected, but she could still feel some pain if she put too much pressure on it.

That stupid man, she thought. He seemed to mean well with keeping them 'protected', but so far, he had done more harm than good. Pagan's men were the ones who caused their jeep to crash and caused her hand to be harmed in the first place. Although it wasn't his fault she got shot, he didn't give them any means of better treatment; they just found a first aid kit purely by chance in the bathroom!

"KiKi, you're getting angry." Jesse warned. "You're gripping the mug too hard."

She carefully placed the mug back down on the table and sighed. "I just don't get why we have to be here! We can handle the Golden Path!"

Because yesterday was an excellent example, he thought. He didn't say it aloud, though, lest her wounded pride bites back at him.

"I've lived here for two decades and I've been able to handle the Royal Army, who says I can't handle the Golden Path?!" She continued. "I'm scarier than any of Pagan's soldiers or Sabal's fighters!"

Jesse sighed quietly and set his own mug down. There was no sense in interrupting her; whenever she was on one of her rants, it was hard to get her to calm down.

"Besides, they aren't the law; they don't own me or rule over me!" She slammed her fist into the table, making the mugs and coffee pot jump and the silverware rattle. "I don't need protecting!"

"Now, you've already driven a knife through my table and a scalpel through my door frame," Pagan scolded her. "You don't need to go and destroy my table by running your fist through it."

Jesse immediately cringed and inched away from Tahki. Of all the people, why did it have to be him who had to be here?

Tahki's head snapped around. He was dressed differently today. Black pants and a maroon shirt. Still got one button down. And he still had makeup on. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, but it did. Or maybe it was just him who bothered her. Either way, it just, well, _bothered_ her.

"Now, don't you worry your pretty little head, I won't be here long." He sat in a chair across from them. "Just, checking to see how you're doing." A little smile formed on his lips. It almost looked sarcastic.

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm shot, how do you think I'm doing?"

"Well, not entirely my fault you got shot, now is it?" Pagan grabbed a few grapes from the fruit bowl and popped one into his mouth. "Now, if you'd have just _listened_ -"

"I don't answer to you, I only answer to the law!"

"Last I checked, I am King, Tahki. I _am_ law."

"You are not my King. You're not even a King, you're a dictator!"

"Well, how else am I to keep those terrorists in line?"

Tahki stood from her chair and leaned in dangerously close to Pagan. She could see just a ghost of freckles on his face. "You murder innocent men, women and children, and all because you may _think_ they support or aid the Golden Path. Your soldiers have bombed the homes of innocent people, forced men and women into prostitution, destroyed historic and religious temples and monuments, forced people into labour for your stupid little projects, tortured and raped people and you haven't done a damn thing about it! You use terror to keep your citizens in check; the only terrorist I see, here, is _you_."

At first, his expression didn't change. He had just stared at her, with his smug little grin. But then he looked almost confused. It wasn't until his expression turned angry that she realized her mistake. _'He has been a recluse for years,'_ she remembered Jesse telling her. _'And most of the soldiers out there aren't even his. He doesn't have much control over them.'_.

She leaned back, the fire in her eyes dimmed, almost ready to apologize. "Oh, this isn't terror..." He growled. " _This is_."

Without warning, Pagan grabbed Tahki by her shoulders and slammed her down onto the table, making Jesse jump up in surprise. "Hey, don't you-!"

Another soldier had grabbed Jesse by his shoulder and had a gun to his skull, forcing him to sit back down.

Tahki struggled to get back up, but Pagan was a lot stronger than what she gave him credit for. He was only using one hand on her back and she still couldn't get up! He leaned down close to her ear. "You know, I have been going easy on you." His nails dug into her as she struggled. "I have been patient, but a man can only have so much of it. Now, you're just getting on my nerves..."

"Fuck you!" She spat.

He chuckled and looked up to Jesse, who still had a gun pointed to his skull. "Is she always like this?"

He didn't respond.

Pagan pulled out a knife from his pocket and looked back to Tahki. "You know, here, you're under my control." He placed the tip of the blade near Tahki's eye, making her still instantly. "I can do as I damn please. I can have you executed, or I can have you tortured." He dragged the tip of the knife over her cheek, digging in only slightly, not enough to draw blood, but enough to scare her. He smiled as her breath hitched, at the fear he saw in her eyes. "And you know what? I am so, _very_ tempted to make you bleed..."

"You can make me bleed," She hissed, "but that never means I'm in pain."

"Oh, I can give you pain." He dragged the tip down towards her neck, almost tenderly. "I can give you sweet pain, the kind that would make you scream," he then twisted it, causing the blade to break her skin. "Or the pain that will make you beg for the death that would never come."

She craned her neck as best as she could, looking at the man straight into his eye. "It takes more than a blade to make me beg for my life."

"Tahki..." Jesse hissed, a warning, a plea for her to stay silent.

Pagan's lips curled into a wry smile and he leaned back down to her ear. "Trust me, I have _many_ ways to make you beg..." He whispered. The implication in his voice was not missed, and, for whatever reason, it made Tahki shiver.

The knife was suddenly removed from her neck and his hand from her back and she shot up, quickly backing away from the man. Whatever rage he had expressed before, it was no longer there and he was as calm as ever. "Unfortunately, I have business that needs to be taken care of."

The soldier removed the gun from Jesse's head and he leapt up, closely inspecting her neck in case Pagan pierced anything vital. Pagan just scoffed. "By the time I get back, I am expecting the both of you to still be here. If you're not, there _will_ be consequences."

He then left the room, taking the soldier who had pointed the gun at Jesse with him. Ronin remained at the door, ready to escort the both of them if they needed it.

"You're really fucking stupid today, KiKi." Jesse scolded. "He could have gutted you here and now!"

"But he didn't." She snapped.

Jesse spun her so she was facing him, grabbing her shoulders and shaking them. "When are you going to learn that whenever you escape death like that, it was merely you being lucky!?"

"Death doesn't scare me, Jess." Tahki countered. "I'm not getting any younger and, at this rate, it could be knocking on my door at any given moment. No sense in trying to avoid it."

He sighed and pulled her in for a fierce hug. "If you aren't going to avoid it for yourself, then avoid it for me, KiKi. You're like a sister to me; I don't know what I'd do if you left me..."

Tahki hesitantly hugged him back, her fingers clenching at his shirt. She was still grateful that he, in some ways, was still naive. She has done nothing but bluff her way through life, but never once had Jesse seen it or noticed it. Death was something that scared her, no, _terrified_ her. But she couldn't let him see that. She couldn't let anyone see that. Because the one thing she feared more than death, was appearing weak to others.

That was the one thing she couldn't risk over anything else.

/ / /

Jesse had decided to go back to his room and watch a movie (after finding out that Pagan had given them TV's and some movies and TV Shows to entertain them while he was gone), but Tahki wanted a better look around Pagan's palace (after getting dressed, of course). There were a lot of candles in the darker corridors, and there was a lot of them! Lots of spare rooms, a living area (she guessed which used to be the throne room), of course the dining area, and the one corridor that Ronin wouldn't allow her to go down (and she guessed it was the corridor where Pagan's room was located).

Then there was outside. There was the courtyard, of course, but then there was a back yard. It was simply huge! However, despite its size, there was almost nothing filling it! There was a running fountain in the center of the yard and there was only a few trees outlining the fence and the 'garden' was completely void of life.

"Doesn't Pagan have any gardeners to take care of this place or something?" Tahki asked.

Ronin shrugged. "I'm just a soldier, so I wouldn't know. But I'm guessing not."

This made Tahki think. She could easily just head back to her room and gorge herself on her peanut butter while she watched _Lie To Me_ , but that was just lazy. She needed something to do. And the outdoors _was_ her favourite place to be in. "Is there a shed with garden supplies somewhere?"

Ronin led her past two trees that led to a path that went through the 'garden of death' (as she had just dubbed it) and there was a little shed. The paint had been peeling like crazy off of it and there was a hole in the roof. Something she could easily fix with the proper tools. Ronin opened the door for her and dust immediately flew into her face, making her cough loudly. "I think this solidifies your answer to my question!" She exclaimed.

Once the dust settled, Tahki saw that there was a large assortment of garden tools available for her to use. she smiled brightly and waved off Ronin. "I'll just be in the yard here whenever Pagan comes back. Tell him so he doesn't have a hissy-fit."

At first the soldier hesitated. There was nothing but cliffs past the back yard area, but that didn't mean she couldn't escape. However, the chances of it were unlikely if she didn't have a weapon; the bears would have her before she got too far. Nodding, Ronin left her to her own devices. She cracked her knuckles over her knee. "Let's get to work!" She said to herself.

/ / /

Pagan washed himself almost viciously, scraping the blood off of his skin. Those damn terrorists, always fucking things up!

He turned off the water and dried himself off. It had meant to be simple in taking Yuma's fortress back, but no, one of his men just had to miss the fucking shot and get them all noticed. That's when shit had really hit the fan, as they instantly called for reinforcements. Of course, they were able to take the fortress back, but they took a hard hit in numbers.

He dressed himself in more casual clothing and then used a blow dryer to dry off his hair. His stresses weren't entirely over, however. He still had to make sure that Jesse and that damned woman were still around. She was smart, but he wouldn't put it past her to try and run off.

He carefully applied the mascara to his lashes. She's a free spirit, he thought. Of course, it must have been just part of her heritage that made her such. She also had her father's temper. But she had an independent air about her as well. Strong willed, single minded, a personality that could rub off on people and looks that could make any man, or woman, swoon. But damn, if she wasn't simply infuriating, he didn't know what she was!

Pagan straightened out his shirt and sighed. Better go find the man in charge of his two guests. " _RONIN_!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

The soldier must have been around because by the time Pagan got out of his room, Ronin was already running down the hall. "Yes, sir?" He asked, already out of breath.

"Where might I find our two guests?" He asked.

"Harper is in his room, sir."

His eyebrows raised slightly. "And his friend is...?"

Ronin almost hesitated. "In the gardens, sir..."

The soldier backed up slightly as Pagan's eyes widened. "And you left her alone." He growled and charged down the hall, with Ronin in tow. "If she's not there, you better hope your death comes quickly!"

/ / /

Tahki wiped at her brow, a streak of dirt now across her forehead. It was a lot of hard work, but she truly enjoyed it.

She had gone rooting through the little garden shed and she had found a bunch of old flower seeds in packets that hadn't even been opened. There was a chance they may not grow, but it'd be worth trying. Of course, she had to pull out all of the weeds that had managed to take root in the large garden, and that had taken her the rest of her morning and some time in the afternoon. It also took time to get the wheelbarrow to the large pit she found, as she only had one arm to help her, but after some trial and error, she managed to make it work. Now, she was finally able to plant the flower seeds!

There were a few vegetable seeds as well, but she would plant those somewhere else. The garden itself was just going to be filled with flowers, and she would make another smaller garden for the vegetables. There were also watermelon seeds, but she didn't know how well they'd grow.

She looked at the one flower seed packet, almost wincing to see what the instructions were. "Damn my eyes..." She cursed.

Being half blind wasn't all that bad, but sometimes it could make reading almost difficult for her. And, technically, she only is about a quarter blind, because her sight in her left eye was only extremely blurry, and not completely dark, but people still tended to say she was half blind.

She opened the pack of seeds and made a small hole in the dirt. Just as she was about to put the first seed in, she heard a voice approaching her. "-if she's gone, it's your head, Ronin!"

She grimaced and groaned at the sound of his voice. He was either back earlier than she thought, or she just lost track of time altogether. Sighing, Tahki stood from the ground and wiped her glove-covered hand off on her jeans. "No need to threaten him, I'm right here!" She shouted, walking over to the almost-rampaging Pagan Min.

He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and waved off Ronin. "I'll deal with you later. Now, go on."

The soldier left the King and the woman alone, releasing a breath of his own.

"What are you doing out here?" The King asked.

She placed her hand on her hip. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"Rolling around in the dirt."

Tahki's brows furrowed and she looked down at herself. Okay, he wasn't wrong, she _was_ dirty. A lot dirtier than she previously thought. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, pulling weeds can make you dirty, Pagan."

His own brows furrowed, then, and he looked around the gardens behind her. They were clean. Well, not _clean_ , but they actually looked a lot better than the last time Pagan had taken a look at the garden. Weed-free. And the soil looked a lot darker; she must have used a rake or something to get the richer soil back to the surface.

Despite that he was impressed, he couldn't help but be a little irritated. "And who exactly told you to clean out the garden?"

She shrugged. "Nobody. That's why I did it." She gestured to the gardens behind her. "You have flower seeds, but no flowers. Maybe that's why you're such a prick all the time; you need something pretty in your life."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't need flowers."

She tilted her head. "No, maybe not, but your garden does. What good is a garden without some plant life? And trees. You need more trees."

"I don't 'need' anything out here."

"What you need is an attitude check."

"Oh, _I'm_ the one who needs an attitude check? I haven't stabbed a table or door frame."

"No, but I haven't threatened to torture someone and then make a petty attempt at flirting!"

Pagan raised an eyebrow at her. "Did I flirt? I don't recall ever doing such a thing."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "'I have many ways to make you beg.'" She repeated his earlier words. "If it wasn't flirting, then I don't know what the hell it was!"

It was the dumbest and most childish argument she could come up with, but she was itching for a fight. Maybe not a physical one, but a verbal one at least. If she wanted a physical fight, she'd get one of the soldiers angry because she knew they wouldn't kill her. Rough her up, maybe, but not kill her.

His glare turned into a smirk. "Oh, you're wrong. That wasn't flirting." He took a step forward, making her instinctively take a step back. "That was the honest truth."

She squared her shoulders and tilted her chin up slightly. "So, what, you got a little torture room?"

Pagan bit back a smile. She was acting tough, but she was also feeding the fire. "Two, actually." He took another step forward, making her step back. "One is what I use for those who may be hiding something. You can never be too sure about who's being honest or not, these days."

She smiled sarcastically. "Mm, I'm certain."

He continued to walk forward, much like how a hungry tiger would walk towards their prey. Taunting them, eager for them to run so it could give chase. Or for them to get trapped in a corner. "The other, I use for more _personal_ reasons."

She continued to back away from the man slowly. She was mentally screaming for her to stop, but the rest of her body refused to listen. "So, you actually torture them yourself, then? Or do you just watch?"

"Oh, I participate fully. A little one on one."

Tahki gasped silently as her back hit the trunk of a tree. Dammit, since when does she walk backwards on such an angle?! She swallowed a lump in her throat, but she kept her chin up, not daring to show him fear, to show him _weakness_.

Pagan didn't stop walking until there was barely any space between their bodies. "And by the time I'm through with them," he brought his face closer to hers, his light brown eyes never leaving her dark ones, until their lips almost touched. "I would have them _screaming_ for mercy..."

She didn't look away, _couldn't_ look away from his piercing gaze and a shiver ran down her spine. She should've kneed at his groin, or at least shoved him out of the way, but there was something in his eyes that kept her still. Was he trying to scare her? Or was he just bluffing; she couldn't tell.

He could see it in her, the little flicker of fear in her eyes. There was also something else, something he couldn't distinguish. Anxiety, perhaps? Her lips were parted, her breath warm against his own lips. The corner of his mouth quirked up and his eyebrows raised slightly. "Nothing to say, Gagné?"

She finally snapped back into reality and she fixed an icy glare on the King of Kyrat. "You know, whenever you talk to me like that, I can't tell if you're trying to scare me or trying to sleep with me."

Pagan scoffed and backed away from the woman. His fun had been ruined with that little sentence. "Oh, please, the very last thing I want to do is get in your pants."

With a short huff, he turned on his heel and left the yard, leaving behind an angry and confused Tahki Gagné. Did he have multiple personality disorder or something? First minute he's asking about what she's doing, just like any other regular human, and the next minute he's trying to threaten and intimidate her.

Well, then again, she technically brought it upon herself. She _was_ itching for a fight. And now she was really itching for one!

Tahki shook her head and growled. Maybe after she was done with the garden, she could go and pick a fight with one of the soldiers. Or Jesse. Jesse would fight, but it was always friendly and he made sure not to hurt her.

Nah, she would go fight with a soldier. That way she knew they wouldn't be holding back.


	5. Wolves in the Garden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had an amazing conversation with an acquaintance of mine on Tumblr last night and she made me do a lot of thinking about this story, about Tahki, and about Pagan's character. I now realize there could be a few flaws (and one of the bigger boo-boos I fixed in the last chapter) and I'm going to be trying my best to fix them! We've also got some... bonding...? Like, they barely tolerate each other, but knowing Pagan, he'd most likely want to try and at least get on better terms with his guests. It's just a short, domestic chapter to give y'all a break from the usual. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy!

Tahki busied herself with planting the flower seeds, enjoying the nice cool breeze that gently whipped her hair. It was something about being up in the North that made the air seem a lot more crisp, a lot more fresh. It could have just easily reminded her of her home back in Canada, of course. But regardless, it was very refreshing.

It wasn't quite as cold as it was the previous day, of course, so Tahki had dressed up in a pair of dark, ripped jeans and a quarter-length black shirt. She still had her leather glove on, though, as her hand still hurt like the blazes!

She heard someone walking down the stone path but she didn't avert her attention from planting the seeds. Whoever it was, they could talk to her while she worked.

"I heard you had beaten the shit out of some of my men last night."

Despite that it was him, she couldn't help but grin at herself. "Yeah, you definitely need to get them a better trainer. Unless they're self taught; then you need to get them a trainer."

She had gone to where she found most of the soldiers the previous evening (as she had been itching for a fight), and she had managed to get one of them angry enough to threaten to beat some sense into her. She had placed a hand on her hip. "Come on, I dare you!" She taunted. "Or are you scared you'll get beaten by a woman?"

That had done it, and the solider immediately charged her, which she easily side-stepped and drove her elbow into his back. Of course, this started a small brawl and she had managed to keep fighting until their boss (most likely a Sergeant or General) came and broke up the fight. She should have guessed he would've gone to report to Pagan Min about it.

Pagan stood just a short distance away from her, watching carefully as she planted the seeds and gently move the dirt back over top of them. "And you look unscathed. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

She dug the mini shovel into the dirt and looked up at him. He was wearing a black jacket and... were those jeans? He was still wearing his makeup, though. "Where do you think I earned a living for the first five-to-ten years of living here?"

He was confused, at first. That didn't make any sense whatsoever; 'where do you think I earned a living...?'. He didn't know that there were fighting rings anywhere in Kyrat.

Unless, he _wasn't_ supposed to know there were fighting rings in Kyrat.

"You fought in illegal brawls?"

She shrugged and resumed with her garden work. "Yes. Jesse had a job, but it almost wasn't enough to keep us supported. Of course, I couldn't find a job anywhere else so I took up in illegal fights. Got some good money off of it, too. It's where I earned most of the respect from the people. Although Jesse wasn't impressed when I came back home with a new bruise."

Once again, this left Pagan confused. Just the previous day, she didn't want to be anywhere near him, and now she was having a casual conversation with him about illegal fights (which he would look into later). Perhaps she just had some mood-swing issues. Tahki suddenly looked up at him, a gleam in her eyes. "But there was never a time where I didn't come home with a wad of cash."

It hit him, then; she was proud. Proud she was able to hold her own, proud that she could fight. This wasn't a regular conversation to her; this was almost boasting about her fighting skills. "But that doesn't answer where you learned to fight in the first place. All things considering, of course."

He meant her arm, of course. She sighed heavily and set the shovel down, standing up from the ground and wiping her hand off on her jeans. "If you're talking about my non-arm, then yes, it seems a little odd. But you know what they say; never judge a book by its cover. My non-arm is the reason I learned how to fight."

Pagan tilted his head to the side. "That's not all, though, is it." A statement, not a question.

The proud gleam in her eyes immediately disappeared and she knelt back down into the dirt, busying herself with planting the flowers. "No, but that's none of your damn business."

There's the attitude he was waiting for. The man simply shrugged. "Very well. Carry on."

Tahki sighed mentally and looked back up to Pagan. Jesse had practically begged her earlier that morning to act a little more civil around Pagan. He understood why she hated him, but her bitchy-teenager attitude eventually wouldn't fly with him. Pagan was King, his word was law and, as much as she hated it, he was also in charge. "You have to get over it, be mature about it, and shut up about it." He had told her. "You may have gotten away with it before, with the people and the Golden Path, even the Royal Army, but now; you're in his world. His world, his rules, his actions and his choices."

"Look, it has nothing to do with you personally... much." She explained to him. "You just worked with my father, and he took the things you did to heart. He was a good man, but even the sweetest fruits can turn sour."

Pagan laughed, then, loudly and almost joyfully. When he finally managed to calm down, he asked her, "Did Harper tell you to say that?"

She shrugged again. "No, but he told me to bite my tongue and at least tolerate you." Not his _exact_ words, but that was making a long story short.

"Oh, well, at least you're honest." He sighed.

She waited patiently for him to leave so she could get back to work peacefully, but he never did. His shadow was still there and she could still smell the faint scent of cologne. She looked back up at him. "Don't you have 'business' to take care of, today? Or are you going to keep standing there like some stalker?"

He clasped his gloved hands together. "No, I'm taking a break today. Damn terrorists. Besides, with you being, well, your father's daughter, I thought I should chat you up, get to know you better. Try and create a," he brushed calmly at the air the way one would brush a fly away. "Clean slate."

Tahki stabbed the small shovel into the dirt and pointed at him. "Okay, if you want a 'clean slate', the first thing you should know is that you don't mention my father. You don't compare me to my father, you don't talk about my father before he left for Canada and you sure as hell don't ask me about my father. Got it?"

"Done. And I have just one condition for you." He crouched down beside her, but not close enough that she could whip around and smack him one. "Drop the act. It isn't very becoming of you."

She almost dropped the packet of seeds. "Excuse you?"

He gestured with his hand. "The act. Your 'bitchy teenager' act. What did you say Harper was; thirty-four? And three years younger? You're thirty-seven."

"Yeah, so what?"

He gestured again and rested his hand on his knee. "See, there you go again. 'Bitchy teenager'. It's grating and it's not fitting for a woman your age. You need to cut the act."

That was the one condition that Tahki _knew_ she would have the most difficult time with. It wasn't much of an act, but more of a shield. When her shield wasn't up, she was vulnerable. And when she was vulnerable, she could act out and speak out in a dark and almost vicious manner. No shield, means seeing emotions. Ones she didn't want to share. "How do you know it's an act? What if it's just my nature?"

He shook his head. "No, that's not your nature. I've _seen_ your nature."

"Go shoot yourself and get stuffed."

Pagan was about to call her out again, but he held his tongue. "You see, when you didn't listen to me and went outside to fight those terrorists, I saw you. But I didn't stop you. I saw what you were and what you could be. You have the nature of someone who feels that they need to survive, to prove who is stronger. Survival of the fittest. You're a pack wolf, but you don't like to play nice." He waggled a finger at her. "Now _that_... that is your true nature."

That was enough. She wasn't about to be attacked and not be able to counter. "And you want to know what I think your nature is?"

"I think you chewing me out at breakfast yesterday was enough." He muttered.

She glared at him. "No, those were your faults, not your nature." She gently set the seeds down and turned her body to him. "Your nature reminds me a lot of a wounded old wolf. He prefers to be alone, not daring to accept help for the wound he suffered. And, as a result, he uses the wound as an excuse to bite at any other wolf that tries to 'make nice'. He doesn't want help, because he wants to appear strong, but he also wants to keep using that excuse to bite at everyone else." She pointed a finger at him. "You are a tyrant; you're using something, I don't know what, but something to keep on driving fear into the hearts of those you think are below you without guilt. There's something that has hurt you in the past, but you aren't going to talk about it. You are allowing that pain to fester in you, like a poison, and you are using it as an excuse for your petty and horrible actions against others. You need anything to blame, but yourself. _That's_ your nature; a lone, wounded wolf."

He stared at her, then. Gaze unwavering, not a single muscle in his body moving. Damn this woman, he thought. Pagan knew, with that little rant, her 'act' had been set aside. She had proven his point, but she had also taken a huge chunk out of him in the process. She was right, in a sense, about him being an old wolf. She had also been correct about him being wounded.

He was also right about her not playing nice; she bit him real hard. And he was tempted to bite back.

Then he remembered their little 'terms', and that he had come here to try and be a little kinder. 'Clean slate', he reminded himself. "You're comparing me to an old wolf, now?"

"You compared me to a wolf as well. You can't say a thing."

Tahki handed him a packet of seeds. "Here." She said.

"And what am I to do with these?" He asked.

"Plant them, smartass." She snapped. "If you want to 'get to know me better', then you're going to help with the work." She then added with a little smirk. "Unless you're just a little miss-priss who doesn't want her clothes getting dirty."

He fixed a glare on her and his grip tightened on the packet. "I am _not_ a priss." He spoke through gritted teeth.

She pointed just ahead of her. "Then get on your knees, take a shovel, and start planting. Make about four or five rows, each row being about one and a half meters across and gently sprinkle the seeds into the rows. Then just put the dirt over the seeds."

He walked off towards where Tahki had pointed, careful as to not disturb the area that she had already been working on. He wasn't a gardener, not in any way. But if this is what it took to make that clean slate, then he may as well just get it over with. "Were you a gardener?"

She gently patted the dirt over a completed row. "Nope. It's really just something I enjoy. Got to keep the exterior of the house pretty, somehow."

/ / /

Jesse walked briskly through the corridors, dodging the few guards that were patrolling. He had fallen asleep and forgot to check up on Tahki. After asking Ronin where she was, he had stated she was working in the gardens with Pagan.

He had immediately taken off. Those two were like wild animals; poke the stick at them even just a little bit and they could both easily be snapping at each other and ripping each other's skin off. Of course, one would be more likely to end up dead than the other. But either way, he just needed to check up on them to make sure they weren't trying to strangle each other.

He almost barreled outside and stood still, waiting and listening for them. He'd rather catch them in the act of fighting than call out and have them stop fighting before he got there.

He heard voices down the garden path and he carefully walked down it, looking around a tree to see them both kneeling on the ground, planting seeds.

Jesse did a double take. Since when did Pagan Min plant flowers?!

"You should do something like this more often." Tahki stated. "Give you something to fill your time."

"I have more important things than gardening."

"Like what, terrorizing and murdering innocent people?"

Dammit, he thought he told her to shut up!

"I am taking back what is mine." Pagan replied.

"By murdering innocent people."

Jesse continued to watch, waiting to see if either of them would throw a punch or threaten someone with a knife. Or a mini shovel, in their cases.

"You were in illegal brawls."

"But I didn't kill people. And they were willing fighters."

"So are the Golden Path. You fought against willing people with fists and feet. I fight against willing people with guns and grenades." Pagan briefly stopped in his work. "You and I aren't as different as you think."

Tahki scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Trust me, we are polar opposites. If we were the same, I'd be a murderer, too."

Jesus, were they actually having a normal conversation?! Well, somewhat normal conversation. But it was still a conversation. And since when did Tahki suddenly tolerate the guy? She could barely be around him, let alone talk to him! Did they brainwash each other or something?

"I'm not a murderer." He snapped at her. "I never pulled the trigger."

"You ordered it." She countered. "That's almost no different. You ever wonder why the people get the same punishment as the assassins they hired?"

Pagan didn't respond.

"Because they are just as guilty." She finished.

Jesse waited once again. Surely that would make Pagan upset, if not angry. Surely that would make him yell or try to pick a fight!

Instead, he changed the subject. "Did you ever learn to hunt? You seem like the hunting type."

She patted the dirt over a row of seeds. "Why is that? Because of my heritage?"

Jesse let out a short breath. He guessed this was as normal of conversation as it could get between these two. They were both like wild animals, he reminded himself of his earlier thoughts. They both had the sticks right next to them, but they could learn to not use them.

Satisfied that they weren't going to kill each other, Jesse silently slipped away from them and walked back into the palace. He didn't know if this was a good thing or not, them actually (barely) getting along, but if it meant less knives and less guns (and insults) then it was as good as it was going to get.

/ / /

"Did you ever learn to hunt? You seem like the hunting type."

She patted the dirt over a row of seeds. "Why is that? Because of my heritage?"

Pagan looked over her shoulder to see that he was gone. "He's a snoopy little shit, isn't he?"

Tahki shrugged and made another row in the dirt. "It's just his nature to worry about me. And don't dodge the question."

Pagan resumed his work and continued to place seeds in the rows he had made. "Yes, it is. You're a Native who already enjoys the outdoors and has a love of nature. I wouldn't put it past you to be a hunter, either."

She raised a finger at him, shovel still in her hand. "One; somewhat racist."

"Oh, please." He scoffed.

"Two; generally speaking. I prefer my meat fresh rather than buying it at the market; no telling what got to it while it was out in the open air." She explained.

"And what did you hunt with?"

"Modified single-hand crossbow. I hate putting bullets into the meat."

"Interesting."

Pagan placed the dirt over the final row of flower seeds and he brushed his hands off. "There."

Tahki poked him with her shovel, which had another packet of seeds on it. He suppressed a sigh and took the packet. "How can you stand working for so long?"

She laughed, then, an almost cheerful sound. "How can _you_ stand working for so long?" She asked him, almost sarcastically. "I keep at things like this until they're done. No sense in stopping. The final product is always worth it. After the flower seeds are planted, there are trees to plant. You don't have saplings, so we'll have to root cuttings."

He looked at the label on the small pack. Calendula. Bright yellow flowers. He carefully opened the packet and stuck it into the dirt, making a few rows and then taking some seeds out. She didn't ask him any questions, so they worked in silence for a few moments.

He had been beating around the bush about her... non-arm, did she call it? Asking about how she hunted, commenting about how quickly she could work, complimenting how well he handled a pistol or handgun. He wasn't being direct about it because, for one, that could easily mark his side of the slate. Secondly, she could have lost her arm in something that was traumatizing. He didn't fail to notice how her non-arm was always covered up. She could just easily be self aware about it as well.

Still, he couldn't help but ask. "How many years have you been with just one arm?"

He heard her shovel drop into the dirt and he looked over at her. She looked just about ready to shoot something! "You seem so well-practiced in everything," he said, trying to somehow make it better. "It seems like you've been-"

"I was born with it." She cut him off. "Hence why I wasn't adopted until I was almost fifteen. Hard to be adopted when you're a teenager. Even harder when you're a cripple."

"I hardly call you crippled."

"Alright, handicapped, then."

He dropped the subject, then. He heard enough. And she shared enough.

"Okay, now it's my turn." She said. "What's your deal? And I'm being serious, as well. You look like a teenager with that hair. You also wear makeup and you seem to like the colour pink. What's with that?"

"It's in style." He replied simply. "It's also my best suit."

"And the hair?"

"Easy to take care of."

"Fair enough."

Everything doesn't always need a complex explanation, she thought.

"And you; you aren't like most women I've seen or met." He commented.

"I have no clue if that's a compliment or a veiled insult."

He shrugged. "Take it as you will. But most women I've met are always concerned about something; their hair, their makeup, their body. And then there's you. You don't seem to care about outward appearance at all."

Tahki _tsked_. "Well, thanks a lot..."

"Not in that way, mind you." He quickly corrected her. "You're already an attractive woman, but you aren't a little miss-priss like most women are. It's almost refreshing."

She nearly dropped the shovel again. Why did he keep coming at her with all these statements and compliments? It kept taking her off-guard. "You think one arm is attractive?" She asks.

"Attractiveness isn't always a matter of ones' body." He replied. "It could be their eyes, their hair, the way they talk or the way they act. It could also be their spirit, their soul. And in your case, it's a matter of your spirit."

"How, now?"

He set the garden shovel down and turned to her. "You're independent, brash, fiery, a free spirit. Nothing holds you down. But you are so damn infuriating!"

She shrugged. "Not my problem you've got a temper."

He was about to snap at her, but he quickly closed his mouth. She just said that to get a reaction from him.

Tahki pulled her phone from her pocket and sighed. "We've been at this almost all day. It's almost supper, we haven't eaten and my back is getting sore." She pocketed her phone and started to collect the gardening items. "We should take a break."

Pagan nodded. He handed her the gardening shovel and stood up from his spot on the ground, hearing the faintest sound of his knees cracking as he did. He was getting far too old for these kinds of things.

She placed the gardening items in a bucket that was hanging on the branch of a tree. "Better than going back and forth to the shed." She explained.

They both walked back to the palace, although keeping a fair distance between one another. "You always seem to have these massive meals. Who does the cooking?"

"Cooks."

"Funny." She rolled her eyes. "You know, you could really do some good with the leftovers you get."

His head snapped to her. "What?"

"You get leftovers, don't you?" She asked. He nodded. "Well, you could do a lot of good with those leftovers. I know a few families here in Kyrat that would be more than happy to have them."

"Was that a thing in Canada?"

"Yes; it's called food donations." Tahki snapped at him. "For someone who rules a third-world country, you really don't know what goes on with your own people."

"Because they are none of my concern." He said.

"And yet the Golden Path is? They are no different than the people that you rule over. They're just voicing their hatred of you, is all." She stopped just inside the door, staring him straight into his eyes. "You know, if you would just take the time to actually have a bit of compassion for your people, or at least take the time to familiarize yourself with them, you'd probably have a lot less problems. Kind of like what you did today with me."

And with that, she took off down the corridor, leaving behind a confused and irked Pagan Min. The nerve of her! What right did she have to tell him what he should or shouldn't do? He didn't have time or patience to deal with the common people.

 _'And yet you have the time and patience to deal with the woman you have deemed infuriating?'_ The little voice inside his head mocked him.

Pagan growled and slammed the door shut behind him, walking down the corridor to his own room. He needed to get his mind off of things. Perhaps some light reading before dinner. Reading was always enjoyable.


	6. The Trouble With Pup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a calmer scene and we learned more about Tahki in the last chapter. More and more will be revealed about her with time. Also, for those of you who don't know, I'm actually Native American and although I have been raised in the Western Culture, I do value my Native heritage. And with Spirit Animals, (although I don't necessarily believe in them) I still think they pertain to people. Anyways, just thought I'd clarify. Also, the song Tahki is singing is called "Take Us Back" by Alela Diane - check it out!
> 
> EDIT: Okay, I'm horribly conflicted about this fanfic, now. I don't know if I want to continue it or not after some more conversing with someone about Pagan and his character. Like, I'm very conflicted; I was barely able to finish this chapter! I love Pagan as a character (fangirl trash) but people say he's a complete and utter monster. I'm just a wee bit upset (as it is NOT too to far from the truth) and I'm not sure if I should be writing this fanfic where an OC is paired with Pagan. So, if a new chapter doesn't come out after this one, I probably have stopped typing this. I'm sorry.

Third day of working in the garden, but Tahki was loving every minute of it! Pagan aiding with the garden had helped her a fair amount, and she had the entire south side of the garden finished! Now, she had decided to plant some trees.

Of course, Pagan had more 'business' to take care of, so she had to do the rest of the work on her own. She had asked Jesse if he wanted to help, but he flatly refused. "The last time I tried helping you in the garden," He said, "you were so OCD about it!"

"You kept stepping on where we planted the seeds!" She had replied.

So, after that, she really did all the outdoor and garden work. Once again, not that she really minded. It gave her time to think and time to herself.

As she worked, she had some music playing on her phone. She had learned that plants enjoyed music and they grew at a better rate when music was playing. And, although there was still some debate, talking to them could also help them to grow (of course, she learned not to talk to plants the hard way after some people hiking came along and looked at her like she was crazy). At first, she would just listen to it, enjoying the pleasant sounds of the song as it filled her ears. Then she would start to hum along to the song, a small smile on her lips.

Then, she would switch to songs without their lyrics. Instrumentals. And that's when she would sing along. It would be her own voice, not the singers and hers. She preferred it that way as she didn't enjoy the sound of her voice mingling with another's (unless it was a duet, but Jesse rarely sang with her).

If she sang whenever she worked, her work speed would often reflect the song she would listen to or sing to. The emotion of the song also could effect her working speed as well.

" _I've a friend who lives out by the river's mouth. He knows the fiddle's cry is an old sound_..." She sang, carefully sawing off some smaller branches off of a young tree. " _A lonesome bow, the creaks and moans of empty houses, are songs like falling rain_..."

It was a sad, melancholy song, but it never really made her feel as such. It made her reminisce about times when things were easier, times when she could live a little more freely and carelessly.

Times when she was a kid.

" _Windblown buildings_." She placed a packet of seeds and the small handsaw on a watering can and then walked over to another large, almost lifeless tree, just near the cliff-side that overlooked the mountains. It was leaning off to the side, slightly, most likely due to the direction the wind blew. " _Muddy ground_..." Tahki placed the watering can at the base of the trunk and then she put the small hand-saw in the crotch of the tree and climbed it. " _The strength of water, can sink a man_."

She carefully started sawing at some of the diseased branches, the blade cutting through the bark with ease. " _Take us back, oh, take us back. Oh take us, take us back!_ " She slipped on down the tree and, using her foot to make a small rut in the dirt, she sprinkled the flower seeds around the base. " _Take us back, oh, take us back. Oh take us, take us back!_ "

She grabbed the can and watered the area around the base of the trunk as she vocalized to the song, her voice echoing in the thin air of the mountains. Over the sound of both the music and her voice, she barely heard the rustling of the bushes just a few meters away from her.

It wasn't until she heard a little _yip_ that she halted in her song, setting the watering can down and turning the music off. She looked around, then, watching for whatever had been spying on her.

The bushes rustled again and she gasped, her head snapping over to the source of the noises. If it was a wild animal, she could be in trouble! There was the small picket fence that made a border between the garden and the forest, but that most _certainly_ wouldn't stop a hungry bear from charging after her.

She readied the handsaw and put herself into a defensive stance, ready to lash out at whatever would attack her. Another little _yip_ sounded and something jumped out from the bushes. Something small. Furry. And almost too damn adorable!

Tahki sighed and then snorted at the sight of the little wolf pup tumbling out from the bush, standing and shaking the dust off its fur. Putting the small handsaw on the ground, she crouched down as the pup turned to her, tilting its tiny head off to the side in a dog-like manner. "What are you doing out here, little guy?" She asked the pup.

The wolf pups fur was the darkest shade of black, with little white tips on its ears. Its eyes were the most sharpest of blues, almost like the colour of ice. It wasn't too big, so she guessed it would have been about three or four months old. With a quick glance between its hind legs, she could see it was a male. "Where's your mama, eh?" She asked the pup.

He sat on his hind legs, giving a short little howl at her. Tahki smiled and gave him a small howl back in return. His ears suddenly perked up and howled at her again, this time his voice escalating in volume. That little pup has quite the lungs on it, she thought.

His howl ended with a sharp note and he sat there, staring at her expectantly. She chuckled and howled at him again, smiling slightly as the pup howled along with her. Their voices raised in a chorus of little howls, creating a distant, haunting melody. Whenever Tahki stopped, so did the little wolf pup, and he would continue to sit there, watching her.

It was a dumb idea, but she couldn't resist. She sat down on the ground and used her teeth to pull off her leather glove. She then held out her bandaged hand to the pup, gently coaxing him towards her. "I'm not going to hurt you." She whispered. "Come on..."

He stood and yipped happily, trotting over to her. He didn't notice the little picket fence and stumbled over it, rolling forward almost comically. Tahki chuckled at his clumsiness. So cute...

He got back up and trotted over to her, stretching forward and sniffing at her balled-up hand. He then licked at her hand, playfully, nudging it with his nose. "Why aren't you with mama wolf, little guy?" She asked.

The pup just yipped playfully and jumped around, occasionally pawing at Tahki. She just looked around, expecting for a larger, angrier wolf to burst out from the bushes, demanding to have her pup back.

She then sighed and stood up, brushing off her pants. "Go on, now. Your mama's probably worried." Pulling her glove back on with her teeth, Tahki turned and grabbed the branches that she had sawed off the tree. Hopefully, with a little more tender-loving-care, the tree would spring back to life!

She heard something moving in front of her and Tahki looked up to see the little wolf pup staring right at her, his little snout almost touching her nose. "What?"

He just licked her nose.

She stood with the branches in hand, turning and walking down the garden path towards the shed, decidedly ignoring the tiny little foot-falls that followed behind her. Just past the shed was the small pit where she had dumped the weeds a couple of days ago. She threw them in and wiped her hand off.

Once she turned around, she nearly stumbled over the wolf pup which had followed closer than she had thought. "Go on!" She hissed. "Go home, pup, before your mom comes up and eats me."

Tahki continued to work around the garden, completely ignoring the small creature that would insistently follow her. Occasionally he would nip at her pant legs playfully, giving out a little growl while tugging on them. She would simply shake him off. If mama wolf ever did end up showing her face, Tahki didn't want to make it look like she was trying to harm him.

As she planted more seeds, he would just sit there, staring at her with his icy-blue eyes, his head tilted to the side. She sighed heavily and looked at him. "What are you trying to communicate to me?" She demanded.

The pup gave a short howl.

Her brows furrowed pensively. "Hm..."

/ / /

She was sitting against a shady tree, her phone in hand and the wolf pup sitting beside her. "If people saw me now, they'd think I'm just crazy." Her fingers moved rapidly across the screen. "Supernatural things don't exist."

He gave a short growl and a yipe.

Tahki scrolled through the web page. Although she loved to stay in touch with her heritage, she didn't really believe too much in the supernatural or spiritual aspects of her culture. Spirit animals were no exception.

"'Power or spirit animals,'" She read aloud, "'are an entity in which remains as a spirit to act as a guide or protector to a human being. They often appear during difficult or perilous times, offering love, healing or support.'" She looked down to the little wolf, who only tilted his head to the other side. "So, they sent me a tiny little _puppy_ to help me?"

The pup gave another short growl and pawed at her phone. "Hey, don't you scratch it up!" She said.

She quickly researched the wolf spirit animal. "Okay, let's find out a little bit about you, pup..." She muttered. "Represents a strong connection with intuition and instincts... could represent perceived threat, or lack of trust in someone, yourself or your actions..." She snorted. "'The presence of your wolf power animal could reflect your inner emotional landscape and bring to your awareness your own feelings about a matter that is highly emotionally charged.'" Tahki looked back down at the small wolf. "Well, you're most definitely not threatening, so I doubt you're even a 'spirit guide' to begin with!"

Suddenly, the wolf pup growled low at her, his ears flat against his head and his lips curled up in a snarl. The sudden change in his attitude made her feel almost uneasy. The instant that uneasiness settled in her chest, the pup stopped growling. "That was odd..."

The pup started jumping around, again, bowing down with his tail wagging. Tahki sighed heavily and, pocketing her phone, stood up and brushed herself off. "Well, wolf spirit or not, I don't believe in that kind of stuff. Now, go home."

She started to walk back to the palace. Upon hearing the sound of little foot-falls behind her, she growled and turned around. "I can't bring you inside, now _go home_!" She barked.

The little wolf immediately lied down, whining as if he had just been kicked. He looked up at her, his glistening eyes making him look as if he were crying. Tahki's glare immediately disappeared at the sight of the wounded-looking pup. There was one thing that always got her, and that was cute baby animals giving her _that_ look!

With a soft little sigh, she carefully picked up the small wolf pup, making him lick her face as if in thanks. "Alright, already! How's about we get you something to munch on?"

/ / /

"Pagan's going to kill you. You know that, right?"

"Hey, what he doesn't know won't kill him."

Tahki and Jesse watched as the little wolf pup chewed on a piece of meat (which Tahki had managed to sneak from the kitchen when the cook wasn't looking). "I still don't think Pagan's going to like it when he finds out."

She leaned against the chest that was at the end of her bed. "He's just a little puppy, Jess." She countered. "And this palace has more than enough room to support a puppy."

"He's a wolf cub."

"He's cute."

"He could be dangerous."

"He's just a puppy."

"For god's sake, KiKi, some days you are just so damn insistent!"

"Well, if there's one thing I simply can't refuse, it's little animals."

"What if his mom is waltzing around outside?" Jesse asked.

She shook her head, kneeling down beside the puppy and scratching him between his ears. "I was out there for hours, Jess, and his mom didn't even show up. And I wasn't about to leave an abandoned puppy all alone."

" _Wolf cub_." He corrected her. He shook his head and sighed heavily. "Pagan is _not_ going to be happy when he finds out."

A knock came at her door. "Dinner is ready." Ronin called.

"Coming!" They both replied in unison. Tahki suddenly opened the lid of the chest and grabbed the puppy, placing him inside the chest. She then grabbed the meat and put it in with him. "Okay, little guy. Stay here, I'll be back soon!"

She slowly closed the lid. "You know that won't work for long..."

"The pupper can breath; it's woven. He has food with him; he'll be fine!" She said. "Now, let's go and eat."

/ / /

It wasn't as grand as the first time they had dined with Pagan, but it was still fancy. Kashmiri Chicken Pulao. To go along with it; Caesar Salad (he must love his salads or something), some cooked vegetables and wine. Tahki never really enjoyed wine; tasted almost like flat cranberry juice to her. She preferred her beer over anything else when it came to alcoholic drinks.

They all ate silently, at first. The tension could be easily cut with a butter knife, but they all stayed silent. Jesse was only waiting for one or the other to say something wrong and then for another knife to be drawn and pointed at a person or driven into the table. Tahki was waiting for Pagan to say something to try and set her off, Pagan was waiting for Tahki to say something to try and make him seem more and more like a villain.

Jesse suddenly bumped Tahki's knee with his own and gestured slightly with his fork. Brows furrowed, she looked over to where he was pointing.

The wolf pup was just trotting into the dining area.

Of course, the one night there weren't any guards at the door was the night that trouble decided to stir! She suppressed a gasp and her eyes darted from Pagan to the pup, then back to Pagan. She needed to distract him or something!

Luckily, Jesse was already on top of things. "Do you always have soldiers patrolling around the palace, or are they just wandering aimlessly?"

She resisted the urge to face-palm herself. She _thought_ he was on top of things.

Pagan raised an eyebrow at him. "No, they patrol. Making sure nobody is where they shouldn't be."

"Does that include us, or...?"

Tahki's attention moved from their conversation and to the wolf pup, who was making his way over to Pagan. Was he _deliberately_ trying to get caught? She moved her elbow across the table, slightly, and her knife dropped onto the floor. She muttered something under her breath, hoping to not look too obvious, and then leaned down to pick up the knife.

Under the table, she could see the pup was just looking up at Pagan, sitting and waiting patiently. Tahki silently snapped her fingers, grabbing the puppy's attention. She patted the floor in front of her and the pup walked over to her and sat in front of her. Satisfied that he was out of the way and out of sight, Tahki grabbed her knife and sat back up, whipping her hair back from her face.

She then pretended to be half interested in Pagan and Jesse's conversation, trying to ignore the little creature pawing at her legs. Making sure that Pagan wasn't looking, she took a piece of chicken off her plate and threw it down under the table, where the puppy gratefully snatched it and ate it.

"-make sure there are no rebels in the palace."

Jesse's brows furrowed. "Don't you have enough men outside to make sure none get in in the first place?"

Pagan waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, they're rather dense most days. They are so incompetent that they managed to let a rebel inside. You would _think_ that they would know each other by their faces, or at least know each other's names, but no, apparently-"

Tahki suddenly let out a sharp yelp.

The wolf pup had nipped her ankle!

Both men gave her a look and she rubbed her left shoulder. "I've been getting pains in my shoulder; sorry about that."

Pagan gave her a suspicious look but turned his attention back to Jesse. "Apparently not. So, I need to be more careful."

She quickly shot a glance at the little puppy. He was merely sitting there innocently, his head tilted off to the side. _'I didn't do that'_ , he seemed to say. She shook her head and, moving the puppy over with one of her legs, set both of them on top of him so he would lay down. Hopefully, he would stay there!

"Do a lot of wild animals tend to slip through as well?" She asked.

"I don't think they come near here to begin with." He replied. "And if they do... well, their pelts could be very valuable. Depending on the animal that comes through, of course. Or, if they try and attack, then they're shot. Simple as that."

Jesse and Tahki gave each other a quick glance. That didn't really spell good news.

She resumed with eating her rice, pressing her legs down on the wolf pup. He continued to wiggle and wiggle, pushing backwards in the hopes that he would be able to escape the human that was currently trapping him. "You know, that's almost a little bit inhumane." She commented. "Why not just let them run back off into the wild?"

"I believe that's a little too much effort to put into one insignificant creature."

The pup managed to squeeze out from under her legs but before he could wander off, Tahki wrapped her legs around him, leaving him trapped once again. "Insignificant? Some of the creatures in Kyrat are endangered. Does that make them insignificant?"

Jesse leaned in towards her. "You do realize he probably doesn't care, right?"

She opened her mouth to retaliate, but instead a sharp shout of pain passed her lips instead of a sarcastic remark. She pushed back her chair and growled under her breath. Pagan, of course, did not fail to notice her odd behaviour this time. He narrowed his eyes at her and, pushing his own chair back, he looked underneath the table.

He nearly bumped noses with the snout of a little canine.

Pagan yelped and jumped back in surprise. "How the hell did that thing get in here?!" He demanded. He then suddenly pulling out a small pistol from the back of his belt. Since when did he have one of those?!

Tahki had to act quickly! She took off one of her flats and, with all the strength she could muster, threw it at Pagan.

Her flat smacked him square in his face, making him look up at her disbelievingly. "Don't shoot him!" She shouted, quickly rushing over to the other side of the table. "He's just a baby!"

"How did that thing get in here?!" He demanded again, keeping his gun pointed at the wolf cub.

Jesse stood from his seat and raised his hands. "I had no part in this..." He muttered.

Tahki quickly sat down beside the puppy and wrapped a protective arm around him. "I found him when I was working in the garden!" She explained. "He kept following me, his mom never came around to get him, and I was not about to abandon him and leave him alone out there!"

"That does not explain how it got in here." He seethed.

"I let him in! He was in my room." She earned a small lick on her cheek from the pup and she gently pushed his face away. "But, somehow, he managed to get out of the chest and push the door open. Unless it wasn't closed all the way, then it's a bit more explainable."

The wolf pup wriggled from her arm and sat directly in front of Pagan's feet, his head tilted and his tongue lolled off to the side. "He's a harmless little wolf cub..." She said.

Pagan put the gun on the table and crouched down to face the pup. "You are not staying here." He told it. He then looked to Tahki. "It isn't staying here."

Tahki gave the King of Kyrat a defiant look. "I already named him, so he's mine now."

"What's his name, then?"

"His name is Pup."

Jesse suddenly burst out laughing, making them both stand up and look at him. "Who names a wolf cub 'Pup'?" He asked, wiping a tear away from his eye.

"I do!" Tahki snapped. She then quickly scooped up the little wolf and gave Pagan another defiant look. "I am keeping Pup."

He glared at her, then at Pup, who only panted happily. "If it so much as scratches _anything_ , I am shooting it and skinning it!"

"Trust me, he won't." She stated. "I'm just putting up a disclaimer; I am not responsible for how loud he is."

Pagan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Bitchy teenager..." He muttered under his breath.

She _tsked_ and readjusted pup in her arm. "It's a habit of behaviour. Sorry. Now, if you'll excuse me, Pup and I are heading to our room."

Pup howled loudly.

/ / /

Tahki lied comfortably on her bed, reading through a book she had packed in her luggage. It was an old novel, but it was one of her more favourite works; _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_. She always loved a good mystery.

She was in her pajamas, which consisted of plaid pants and a black tank top. It was comfortable enough for her, and with how thick the bed sheets were, she was more than warm enough.

She suddenly felt a small weight on the bed and she looked over to see Pup sitting on the bed beside her. "Uh, no, you're not sleeping on the bed." She told him.

He just cocked his head.

She sighed and, setting down her book, she gently shoved Pup off the bed. Just as she was about to turn back to her page, he hopped onto the bed again, this time sticking his nose right by her face. Her face scrunched up slightly. "Pup, you have bad breath!" She shoved him off again.

Looking over the side of the bed, Tahki saw Pup laying down with his head between his paws, looking up at her with the saddest eyes she had ever seen. She shook her head. "Sorry, but that's not going to work on me this time." She said.

With a little huff, she returned to reading her novel. She had read through the book multiple times, but it never stopped her from enjoying it. Once she started, it was hard for her to stop.

Several minutes of silent reading passed before she finally decided to turn in for the evening. Setting the book on the bedside table, she turned off the lamp and crawled under the covers. "Goodnight, Pup."

Several minutes passed and just when Tahki felt herself drifting off to sleep, a loud, mournful howl filled the room. She physically cringed and rolled over onto her side, turning the lamp back on and looking down. Pup had his eyes closed and his head thrown back, his little white-tipped ears flattened as he howled to the sky (which really was the ceiling). Once he ran out of air, he stopped. After a few seconds, Tahki blinked rapidly. "Is that a-?"

He immediately started howling again, this time in a much more sharper note. It didn't sound mournful, but more like he was deliberately trying to annoy her. With a low growl, Tahki rolled onto her back and patted the bed beside her. "Alright, Pup!" She shouted. "You can come up!"

As soon as she completed her sentence, Pup stopped his howling and hopped onto the bed, laying down beside her with a happy grin on his face. "Don't you get too comfortable, Pup." She told him. "It's just for tonight."

She turned off the lamp and curled up again, with Pup curling up right beside her. He gave her face a little lick. "No bed time kisses..." She mumbled.


	7. Intruder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you follow me on my Tumblr, you'll understand what I think about Pagan's morning habits. If you don't, then, well... I'll just let you read.

_She's an interesting one. But I can also sense her pain. It's the most sickening stench and it hangs around her like a skunk spray. I've always watched her, seen her bleed, seen her cry; she's already been through so much. It's hard for her to move on in such a way._

_I'm going to make sure she doesn't lose anyone else close to her, I'm going to make sure that she doesn't get hurt again. And I'm going to make sure that_ both _of their hearts change._

_Time to just give them a little nudge!_

_..._

_And, of course, wake her up first..._

/ / /

She felt something poking at her face, making her cringe and roll onto her side. "'S cold..." She muttered.

She felt the weight shift to the other side of her and the same thing poked her face again, this time making a little noise. She groaned and pulled the sheet over her head. "Go away..." She breathed.

Pup released a short howl before pawing at where her head was, almost playfully. He heard her growl and she immediately turned over and, poking her arm out from the sheet to grab a pillow, she put the pillow over her head.

He sat there for a few moment, his head tilted off to the side. His icy blue eyes continued to stare at the lump under the sheets.

Just as she felt she was about to fall asleep again, Pup let out a sharp, mournful howl, making her growl in frustration. Instead of trying to stop the wolf pup, she pressed the pillow harder onto her ear, trying to block out the noise.

Pup stopped howling for a moment and, in an instant, he jumped onto Tahki's side, much like a wolf would hop onto their perch, and howled again, this time a lot louder, with his eyes closed and his head pointing up to the ceiling.

Tahki groaned and clenched her fingers to the pillow, curling herself up into a ball. "I can ignore you, pup!" She said.

Pup took a breath and howled again.

"It's not going to work!" She shouted over his howling. "I'm not getting out of bed!"

Over the loud singing, Tahki could hear the door to her room slamming open. "Shut that confounded mutt up!" She heard someone shout.

Tahki poked her head out from under the pillow and winced at the bright sunlight that flooded her room. Without even feeling it, Tahki could tell her hair was probably a nightmare. There was cold air on her head, so that could only mean it was sticking up.

Pagan was in her door. What on earth was he doing near her room?

She was tempted to test his patience and simply crawl back under her bed sheets but she was still tired and she was already losing her patience with Pup, so she decided against pestering Pagan. " _Alright_ , _Pup_ , _I'm up_!" She shouted, pushing the covers away from her head.

Immediately Pup stopped howling and barked happily, jumping across the bed. Tahki sat up and rubbed her eyes, almost glaring at the small wolf. He just wagged his tail. Off down the hall, she swore she heard Jesse shout, " _Finally_!"

"Of all the creatures, why did you decide to keep the most annoying one?" Pagan seethed.

She groaned and turned her head to him and yawned widely. "What are you even doing here?"

"Your mutt-"

"Wolf Cub, or call him Pup." She interrupted.

He rolled his eyes and his hand gripped the door frame angrily. "I don't care what you call it! I could hear that mutt all the way down to my own room!"

She patted Pup on his head. "It's not exactly my fault he wanted to sing the song of his people."

Suddenly, Pup jumped off the bed and trotted towards Pagan, who only glared down at the black-furred creature. He sat there and barked up at him, gently nudging his head against Pagan's leg. "Oh, don't you try to butter me up."

Tahki yawned again and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "You should be happy he still likes you after you pointed a fucking gun at his skull!"

"And you threw a shoe at me!" He countered.

"Because you had a gun pointed at him. He's just a baby."

Brushing her hair back with her nails, she stood from the bed and stretched out her arm. Pup barked excitedly and ran over to her, jumping up on his hind legs in front of her before running back to Pagan and doing the same. He then turned back to Tahki, panting heavily with his tongue lolled to the side. It almost looked like he was smiling.

"Mm, yes, a 'complete face of innocence'."

"Don't get smart with me." She snapped. "He's a cub that lost his mama."

"How do you know that?" He asked.

Tahki rubbed her eyes one last time. "Because I was-" She almost did a double take as her vision cleared up (for the most part). "Okay, you can wear a silk, three-quarter length shirt in this area of Kyrat, and yet here you are wearing _that_!"

It was another blinding piece of clothing, but it was definitely not something that she thought he would be one to wear. It was a fuzzy housecoat. It was pink and the edges, sash and collar were a maroon. Why would he need a warm housecoat? And, for once, he wasn't wearing makeup.

"How can you wear nothing but a tank top when it's so cold in the morning?"

A small gasp escaped Tahki's lips before she suddenly grabbed the bed sheet and covered her non-arm with it. She needed to get into the habit of wearing something with a closed sleeve or something to bed. "I'm a Canadian; I'm built for this weather."

He raised an eyebrow at her before shaking his head. "Just keep that damn mutt quiet in the morning! Some of us don't have the luxury of sleeping at regular times."

"Aw, poor baby." She mocked him.

"Bitchy teenager..." He muttered under his breath before leaving her room, closing the door behind him.

She looked down to Pup, who was still staring at her with the same goofy grin on his snout. "Just what are you trying to pull, here, Pup?"

His tongue disappeared into his mouth and his jaw snapped shut, tilting his head off to the side with a small whine. Tahki _tsked_ and shook her head. Although animals weren't sentient, she always wondered if pets could really understand people; know what they're saying or doing.

If they could, it would most certainly explain some animal behaviours.

/ / /

She sat back against the tree, a book in her hand and Pup on her lap. She could hear him lightly snoring and whenever she looked, she would sometimes see his ears or paws twitching. He looked absolutely adorable when he was sleeping!

Of course, his current position on her lap made her unable to move her legs, and her right one was beginning to fall asleep. She could simply move it, but then that would mean moving him as well. She always felt that whenever a pet fell asleep on you or your bed, you are practically obligated not to disturb them.

Tahki heard someone approaching her and she briefly looked around to see Jesse. "Hey, Jess." She said with a small smile.

"Hey, KiKi." He sat down beside her and gave Pup a quick glance. "You know, he's actually kind of cute."

"Mhm." She set her book down and gently, carefully, stroked Pups' back, making him twitch a bit in his sleep. "Is there something you need, Jess?"

He shrugged, slightly. "You know Ronin?"

She nodded. "Yes, the soldier that acts as our escort."

"Y'know what his deal is?"

Tahki raised an eyebrow at him. She knew what he meant, of course. But... Ronin? "You think I'd know?"

He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, maybe?"

She couldn't help but chuckle at him. "Look, if you're interested in him, then just go and say so."

"Okay, much easier said than done, KiKi." He turned his whole body to her. "Look, I'm not one for rejection, you know. And if he's straight, that's just going to make things awkward."

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Hold on, we haven't been here for even a week and you're already interested in Ronin?"

Jesse raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, while you're out here in the garden, I need _someone_ to talk to and he was the closest guy that didn't look like he wanted to shoot me. And, like, I just want to know. You know?"

She sighed slightly and patted his shoulder. "I'm no expert, but you should go and ask. Don't ask him _directly_ , but just... suggest. Let him know where your position is and, if he says he's not, then it's not entirely rejection, but a statement of preference. You get what I'm saying, right?"

He patted her shoulder in return and gave her a ghost of a smile. "Yeah. Thanks, Tahki."

He stood up and left her alone in the garden, leaving her to her own thoughts. She felt something nuzzling under her hand and she saw that Pup was trying to get her to pet him. "Since when did you wake up, eh?" She asked, stroking the little wolf between his ears.

Jesse would always seem to come to her when it came to relationships. Although she herself had never had any experience with love, dating, or even flirting, he always said to her that she had the best advice. Sure, he had experienced more than a few heartbreaks, but she always knew what to do.

This was the first time in a few years, though, that he came to her for advice. She didn't know if that was a good thing or not. He could've had a boyfriend she didn't know about and recently broke up with him (well, then again, if that had happened she was certain he would've come home almost distraught and passing out on alcohol), or he had been alone for the past seven years. She guessed that it was more likely that he had been alone.

This made her think back to the one time he brought someone home for her to meet. They had been dating for a year and, considering that she was really the only family he had in Kyrat, Jesse wanted her to meet him. They had dinner (not at their house, as shabby as it was) and she remembered his boyfriend asking if she had someone.

She did. Once. But it was a failed relationship even before it started. Of course, she didn't say that to him, but she simply explained that she had no interest in a relationship at her age (she wasn't _that_ old, being about twenty-eight when she was introduced to him) and it wasn't a lie. Entirely. But he also didn't need to know that.

"I'm almost forty years old, Pup." She spoke aloud. "I don't have time for that stuff..."

Pup whined and cuddled closer to her in a comforting manner. _'It's okay.'_ He seemed to say.

/ / /

Tahki paced around the various corridors of the palace with Pup following close at her heels. Gardening was great and all, but she felt like she _really_ needed to get outside. Of course, knowing Pagan, he would probably tie her to a chair before letting her waltz around outside. She could watch TV (which she still hasn't turned on yet), or she could read a book, but even those things could easily get boring. She was itching to do something, anything. Hell, she was even ready to pick a fight with the soldiers again!

Although she was "getting at that age", she still enjoyed participating in the illegal fights. It brought in some good cash and it always let her blow off some steam. She also needed to keep her fighting skills up. However, because she's under 'protection', she can't go to the fighting ring back down south. She didn't hear about any fighting rings up in the North, so that was out of the question.

She halted in her steps and Pup stopped alongside her, sitting beside her feet. Pagan _did_ say that she and Jesse were both under his protection, but he didn't say a thing about not going out. Of course, he had hinted at there being consequences if either of them tried to escape, but Tahki wasn't escaping. She would merely be going out.

 _'Ronin might pay the price...'_ She heard that little voice say.

Tahki remembered when Pagan threatened Ronin the first day she had been working out in the garden. And now, with Jesse being evidently interested in him, she couldn't risk having Pagan's wrath being taken out on him.

She sighed in defeat and continued to walk down the corridor. She still had a hard time understanding why Pagan needed to 'protect' her. She was a fully grown woman that could kick his ass into next year if she wanted to! And she did not have any reason to believe that he was keeping her at the palace because of her father; why would that man care about her safety?

Pup let out a short, low growl and she looked down at him. "What?"

He was standing with his legs slightly spread apart, staring directly ahead of them and down the corridor. His white-tipped ears were flat against his head and his lips were curled up in a snarl, his hackles raised on his back. She looked down the corridor. The only source of light provided was the candles that were lit and, no more thanks to her sight, she couldn't hardly see anything.

She _tsked_ and tried to pet Pup, but he snapped at her and continued to growl at whatever was down the corridor. "Quit spooking yourself, Pup." She told him. "Let's go."

She attempted to walk forward but his teeth clamped onto her pant leg and he tugged back, trying to get her to stop.

Tahki turned around and placed her hand on her hip, looking down at the wolf cub with a scornful look. "There is nothing down there." She said to him. "And if there is, it's probably a mouse."

Pup growled menacingly at her and she backed up slightly, almost scared of the little creature. "Hey, take it easy..."

With a vicious bark, Pup lunged at her.

And between her legs.

Tahki looked down and then turned around to see Pup attacking someone, grabbing harshly onto their leg and making them cry out in pain. "Pup!" She shouted, running after him.

The intruder kicked Pup against the wall, making him yelp. Tahki used the distraction to her advantage and grabbed the intruders' shoulder, spinning them around and headbutting into them, making them stagger back in surprise. She didn't stop there; she started to deliver several kicks and punches at the intruder, barely giving them enough time to dodge or block them.

Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing! She was barely able to land any decent hits on them!

Pup had soon recovered and, shaking the dizziness out of his head, he barked again and attacked the intruder, sinking his teeth into their arm, a feral growl emitting from deep within his throat.

The intruder didn't seem fazed by the small creature biting them, this time and, swinging their arm around, they used Pup as a weight and smacked Tahki square on her face, making her fall back.

She was taken completely off guard by that attack and she wasn't able to react before she was hit in the face. The wolf cub was a lot heavier than he looked, because the force in which she had been hit nearly knocked her out. As she stumbled, she attempted to clear her head, shaking it slightly.

She heard Pup yelp loudly and then she felt her hair being pulled back and a gun being pressed to her skull. "You are coming with me."

 **Like hell I am!** Sucking back some air, Tahki opened her mouth and attempted to call for help. Before the word could even start to slip past her lips, the butt end of the gun hit the side of her head. There was a small flash of white and then there was a sheet of black.


	8. Don't Cry, Little Wolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR WORD OF WARNING: This chapter contains themes/mentions of abuse and rape. There's no scene, but there's mention of it.

Consciousness was slow in coming to her, but it was better than coming fast and delivering a headache.

She was beginning to feel something wet against her nose and she shrunk back. "Go away, Pup."

As soon as Tahki spoke, the young wolf cub barked and continued to nuzzle at her face and neck, licking her awake. She swiped at him and sat up, "Okay, I'm up..."

" _KiKi_!"

She was suddenly brought into a fierce hug and she groaned loudly. "Jesse, you're crushing me!"

"You could've died!"

"From what?"

Jesse pushed back to look at her, brows furrowed in confusion. "You don't remember? You were attacked, Tahki."

Her eyes widened as soon as the words slipped past his mouth; the stranger, whomever that was , had attacked her. Well, Pup had attacked them first... Oh, _Pup_! She scooped the young wolf up with her arm and kissed his head. "Pup, you brave little shit..."

He licked at her face and barked happily.

Jesse patted Pup's head. "If it wasn't for Pup's barking and growling and howling, Ronin wouldn't have found you in time. The guy was dragging you off and Ronin just caught him in time."

Tahki looked around to see she was back in her room. It was beginning to get dark out, so she must have been out for hours. Just exactly how hard had she been hit over the head?

They both heard someone shouting in the hallway and they already knew who it was before the words even became distinguishable.

"-and I swear, I am going to _kill_ whoever managed to let the bastard in!"

Her door slammed open to reveal a very distressed (and blood-splattered) Pagan Min. Pup gave a short howl and jumped off of the bed and towards Pagan, running alongside him as he made his way over to Tahki. She quickly held her hand up. "You're covered in blood, don't come near me."

Jesse was quick to make his way out of the room. "I'm not about to get in the middle of whatever shitstorm you two are gonna stir up. I'm out."

As he closed the door behind him, Pup jumped up onto her bed and gave another short howl, looking back over his shoulder with his tongue lolled off to the side. Tahki pursed her lips. "I don't know what you're trying to communicate, Pup. What even is with that face?"

Pagan sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I am gone, for not even a few hours, and you manage to nearly have yourself killed and captured?"

"It's not my fault, honestly. I was only taking a walk and then I got ambushed." She stroked Pup between his ears. "If it wasn't for Pup, I definitely would've been captured. He knew the intruder was there and attacked him outright. Even when he got thrown into the wall, he got right back up and attacked again. Pup protected me."

Pagan looked down at the wolf cub, who looked back up at him with a smile on his snout (or what looked to be like a smile). He knew she was trying to give him a reason not to hate the young wolf, and although he wouldn't admit it, it was somewhat working. He sighed again and he gently pet the creature. "Good boy..."

Tahki watched as Pagan stroked the little pup. There was a small tenderness, she noticed, rather than tenseness. Either he had a soft spot for puppies, or for once (in the times that she had seen him) he actually seemed a bit relaxed. "Okay, you wouldn't just barge in here for nothing. And, knowing you, you probably want to talk about something. So, either go and get washed and changed, or we're not having any discussion."

The tenderness was immediately gone. "Only if you drop that fucking bitchy teenager act." He hissed.

She quickly bit her tongue to avoid snapping at him. "Already dropped."

Pagan rolled his eyes but he quickly left the room, closing the door behind him. She looked down at Pup, who stared at the door. "I don't get how you like him so much."

Pup looked back at her over his shoulder.

Tahki eyed the wolf up and down and then quickly pulled out her phone. "Let's see..."

/ / /

"'Wolves sometimes appear when you face challenges for which you feel less than prepared for.'" She read aloud. "'Sometimes, the Wolf calls on you to become the Lone Wolf to break away from the pack to discover the sacred self. During times of aloneness you rediscover your dreams and passions. You also start uncovering the true self and voice that howls at the moon with abandon.'"

As if to accentuate what she had read, Pup lifted his head and howled briefly before looking back at her with his piercing blue gaze. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "What, you really think that I believe you're some spirit animal?"

"Do those even exist?"

Tahki looked up to see Pagan _finally_ cleaned. "It's been half an hour." She stated. "I thought it was women who took a long time getting ready?"

Pup suddenly jumped off of the bed and ran over to Pagan, sitting directly in front of him and looking up at him. "Why do you keep doing that?" She asked.

Pagan merely stepped over the young wolf and shook his head in annoyance. "Blasted mutt..." He muttered.

She quickly shut off her phone and placed it on her pillow. "Alright. So, 'bitchy teenager' act aside. What is it you want to talk about?"

"Well, it's not too much, really." He stood in front of her, keeping a short distance in case she lashed out at him. He also carefully ignored the little creature that pawed at his leg. "Seeing as my men are starting to become incompetent, I have decided that, since I actually know how to do things properly, I am staying here at the palace until this whole... terrorist business is sorted out."

Tahki stared at him, blankly, at first, not a single muscle twitching and her eyes unmoving. The calm before the storm, he thought.

"You can't be serious."

"I rarely am one to joke."

"You can't be fucking serious!"

She was now furious! She valued her time alone, when Pagan wasn't around, because she was free to do as she pleased without disapproving eyes or snarky comments. She didn't want him constantly watching her! Dammit, why were things going so wrong for her?!

"Bitchy teenager..." He muttered.

He noticed her fingers clawing at the sheets (and it was most likely that she was pretending it was his throat she was scratching at) before she suddenly let out a deep breath. "Get out."

Pagan was quick to comply, turning on his heel and heading straight for the door. Before he could even open it, however, he felt something blocking his legs and he looked down to see Pup sitting in front of him. "Get out of the way." He snapped.

He moved off to the side, and Pup scooched himself along so he still blocked his path. Pagan then quickly stepped over him.

Pup was a lot quicker (and stronger) than what Pagan gave him credit for, and as soon as he had stepped over the wolf, he had grabbed at his pant leg with his jaw, gently pulling back and letting out a low growl. It wasn't a playful one, but more of a threatening one.

Tahki, who had been watching the whole situation as it happened, furrowed her brows as Pup refused to let go of Pagan. What was the little creature trying to tell her? An afterthought suddenly struck her. "Actually, hold on."

Pagan immediately stopped in his attempts to get out of the room and Pup released his grip on his pants. "I do have some questions I want to ask you."

He raised an eyebrow. "What questions could you possibly have?"

She pushed herself back onto the bed and sat Native Style. "Why are you so hellbent on trying to keep me from getting hurt? What is it that's driving you so much to keep me protected?"

Once again stepping over Pup (who immediately followed behind him) he made his way over to the nightstand and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have to promise not to get angry over this."

She waved her hand dismissively. "As long as you answer my question."

"It's your father." He saw her tense up, but she held herself back. "He worked for me, he was my best soldier. I dare say we were even friends. He had saved my life more than once. I should be dead, but he managed to keep me alive. I owed him. A lot. However, with his passing, I cannot seem to repay him."

Her father never really mentioned his work to her, only telling her bits and pieces of what he did and who he worked for. But he never went into great detail. So, instead of making her angry, this was making her more curious.

"However, he had sent me a letter about seven years ago." Pagan continued. "He knew you moved here, but he somehow knew I didn't. He requested one thing from me, and that was to make sure no harm was to come to you. He didn't want you to suffer for the things he had done."

Tahki scoffed.

He decided that he would get some answers himself. "Alright, my turn." He leaned forward, slightly, in an inquisitive manner. "Why do you hate your father so much? What did he ever do to you?"

Her eyes narrowed and her lips could be seen curling into a snarl. "That's my business to know, not yours."

"And it wasn't your business to know why I am protecting you." He countered. "I answered your question. Now you answer mine."

Pup suddenly hopped onto her lap, curling up into a ball. He was trying to comfort her, she thought. Animals were smarter than humans gave them credit for; they knew when they were in distress, or were feeling lonely or angry or sad. Tahki gently stroked Pup along his ears and back. "Sit down, a minute, would you?"

"Where?"

"Just sit."

Pagan was unsure as to if this was just some sort of ruse so he could get close enough for her to slap him, but he complied (albeit hesitantly) and placed himself beside her on the bed, elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together.

She didn't even flinch, she didn't even look at him. She was just staring at Pup, who looked at him with sad eyes. Why did he get the feeling that, whatever she was going to tell him, wasn't going to be good?

Tahki took a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking. "When my father adopted me," she started, "he loved me almost instantly. He treated me like I was his own child. For just over a year, he loved me, cared for me, he would take me out for things like movies, or just to eat out somewhere. But, after that one year was over, he suddenly started to change. Something in him... it just snapped."

"He would smile less. Whenever he came home, he never greeted me with his usual hug. He started being almost reclusive. It wasn't long until... until he started coming home angry. At first, he would snap at me, sometimes even yell at me. Of course, me being adopted and just being a teenager, I didn't really understand why he was suddenly acting the way he was."

Without even hearing the full story, Pagan could already tell where it was headed. He didn't know if he should have stopped her, let her know that he understood, or if he should just let her talk. It didn't really matter, of course, as she just kept on talking.

"Then, it started getting worse. If he was angry enough, he would sometimes hit me. A smack on the face or something. I never knew why he did it, but I just stayed quiet about it. And then... then he started coming home drunk. Drunk and angry."

"Tahki-"

"He would come home drunk, and he would just beat me!" She hissed. "There were so many times where I couldn't go to school because of the bruises! For months, he had abused me, beaten me almost into submission, he never cared if I cried, or if I begged him to stop. One day, I decided that I had had enough and I tried to stand up to him, but... it didn't end too well. I had to go to school the next day because of exams, and Jesse didn't fail to notice how sore I looked. When he asked... I answered honestly."

Tahki bit back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes, sniffling quietly. "Jesse made it so that I would stay away from home as much as possible and he took me to someone who taught me self defense and mixed martial arts; that's where I get most of my fighting skills from, if that's what you were wondering."

Pup suddenly whined and nuzzled into Tahki, giving her hand an almost reassuring lick. "One night, I had to go home because Jesse was going away for a family trip. I was scared, and he knew it, but couldn't do anything about it. When my dad came home, I was expecting him to immediately yell, or to start trying to hit me. But he surprised me and just sat on the couch with me." She scoffed. "Stupid me, I thought I was safe, despite the smell of alcohol hanging around him. I didn't know it then, but I know it now; he was thinking over what he wanted to do."

Tahki hugged Pup close to her body, her eyes filling with tears. "He tried to..." Her voice cracked and she huffed. "He tried to rape me..."

Pagan was shocked at her words. He had known her father for years, and he never thought him to be that way. Although he was one of his soldiers, he was still a kind man. The only reason he left was to try and turn his life around after Kyrat was taken. Sure, he could do some questionable things whilst drunk, but never had Pagan thought he'd lean towards something so terrible!

He wanted to reach out, then, to try and comfort her, but then he remembered how much he valued his hand and decided against it. They were nowhere near being friends, or even good companions, so comfort was pushing things.

"I was eighteen at the time and I had been going to the MMA classes for a while." Tahki continued. "So... I was able to fight him off. I called Jesse and he convinced his family that he was sick enough that he needed to head home. Gave me an excuse to leave the house."

Pagan hesitated slightly before asking, "Did he leave you alone after that?"

She shook her head. "No. Only after I gave him a beating did he leave me alone. Until the next time. And, by the time I was twenty, I couldn't find much of a job and couldn't move out, so I decided to move here to Kyrat, by my sister's suggestion."

"You had a sister?"

"No. She was one of my friends, but I considered her a sister. She was able to look into my father's family history and there was a house here that had yet to be claimed by one of the Gagné's. So, I decided to leave. Jesse was seventeen at the time, but he claimed that his family hated him anyways, so I managed to get him to come along with me." Tahki shrugged.. "The rest is history."

It all made sense to him, now! This explained a lot about her; her attitude, her behaviour, her hatred and her sharp temper. She had suffered a lot in her childhood, constantly going through the system, and then being abused by her adoptive father. It almost made him angry.

She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, you weren't looking for a life story."

"No, it's... fine." He reassured her. "I'm actually glad you decided to be honest. It's refreshing."

She pointed a finger at him. "Don't you go thinking that this changes anything between us. You're still a dick, and we're nowhere near being friends."

Pagan immediately bit his tongue, trying desperately to hold back the snarky comment that burned at the back of his mind. Instead, he quirked his eyebrows. "God forbid."

Pup looked between the two humans, a small grin on his snout as he panted happily. That was one more big barrier down, and it was more than enough to tear down the rest. As long as they didn't end up strangling each other (which he would definitely try to prevent), of course.


	9. Bloodstains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR WORD OF WARNING: This chapter contains big-time scenes of blood and self harm. This has nothing too major in it so if you would rather not read it, then by all means, skip out on it.

Pagan was just finishing in applying his mascara when he thought he heard something scratching. He paused for a moment, listening for the scratches again. After a few moments, he shook his head and put the mascara back on the counter. "Hearing things..." He muttered.

The scratches suddenly came back again, this time sounding like they were directly on his bathroom door. He whipped around, grabbing the pen (which really also doubled as a knife) from his front pocket. Whoever the hell it was, he was going to stab the ever-loving shit out of them.

He slowly approached the door, almost flinching as the scratches grew more intense. A hand on the doorknob, he took a breath, and rapidly swung it open.

Pagan was suddenly tackled to the ground and he yelped with surprise. He fell back and an indescribable weight settled itself on his chest.

Then there was the barking.

He glared at the annoying little creature, who continued to bark incessantly at him. Growling, he shoved Pup off from on top of him. "How the hell did you even get in here?!" He demanded.

Pup growled and grabbed at Pagan's pant leg, tugging harshly and shaking his head. He kicked at the wolf pup. "Enough of that!"

Pup growled again, this time more menacingly, with his ears flattened and his lips curled up in a snarl to reveal his sharp, pearly-white teeth. Pagan froze, unsure as to what to do with the creature. If what Tahki had said yesterday was true, then Pup was more than capable of handling something bigger than him.

The thought suddenly struck him. "Why are you here and not with Tahki?" He asked the creature.

Pup suddenly ran for the door leading to the hallway, barking viciously and jumping up and down, scratching at the door almost impatiently and 'digging' at the floor whilst whining. Pagan watched almost curiously at how the cub was behaving and then he knelt down beside him. "What's wrong?" He asked, scratching Pup behind his ears.

When he removed his hand, he didn't fail to notice the slight red stain on his skin. His brows furrowed in confusion and, dropping the pen, wiped at the odd substance with his other hand. It easily came off and it felt wet, almost warm.

Almost.

Pagan's eyes widened and he shot up from beside Pup, practically throwing open the door and charging off down the hall. " _RONIN_!" He shouted as loudly as he could. " _Get the doctors, now_!"

He flew by various guards and soldiers, merely pushing them out of the way as he barreled down the halls. If what he was fearing had happened _had_ happened, then he had very few moments to get to her before time ran out.

He nearly tripped over his own feet as he turned the corner, stumbling slightly before picking himself back up. " _TAHKI_!" He hollered.

He skidded at her door and grabbed the doorknob, forcibly pushing open the door and Pup made an immediate beeline for the bathroom, barking viciously in front of it. Pagan soon followed and attempted to open the door. Locked. Pagan pounded his fist against the wooden door. "Tahki Gagné, open this door right now!"

Pup had joined in with trying to get Tahki's attention, barking and howling at the front of the door. Jesse must have been woken up by Pagan's sudden shouts as he had entered the room, just pulling a shirt over his head. "What the fuck is all the noise about?!" He demanded.

Pagan ignored the Canadian and tried to force the door open by charging at it with his shoulder. " _Tahki_!"

Pup barked and tried to help in getting the door open, placing his two front paws on it and trying to push it open.

With a low growl, Pagan stepped back from the door and, with a small huff, kicked at the door. It was pure oak wood, but it was also centuries old; termites _had_ to have gotten at it at some point!

His silent prayers were answered as the door flew open with a loud _crack_ , the doorknob breaking off as the wood splintered and flew off of the door. His eyes darted around the room and they fell to the floor, where a small dark pool of crimson liquid was slowly spreading, staining the pure white marble.

Pagan immediately dropped to his knees and turned Tahki over. "Tahki, you'll be fine!"

The knife, also stained with blood, _her blood_ , fell from her hand as she fell onto her back. There were so many cuts, oh god, how did she manage so many of them?!

Jesse gasped and also fell to his knees, not caring for the blood that got onto his pants. "KiKi! Girl, come on, stay awake!"

Pup licked at her face, whining and laying down beside her. She stirred, a small groan slipping past her lips. Pagan released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. She's alive, at least.

The medics arrived not even a few moments later and they carried Tahki from the bathroom to the bed, carefully laying her down and inspecting her wounds. Pup, Jesse and Pagan could only watch as they did their work.

"Did you know she did this?" He asked the Canadian.

"Yes, but..." He shook his head. "I thought she had quit after... this isn't the first time something like this has happened." He turned his head and glared. "What the fuck did you say to her, last night?"

Pagan glared back. "Don't pin this on me, Harper!"

"What did you say to her?!"

"She had told me about her problems with her father; I had said almost nothing!"

A feeling of dread overcame Jesse at the King's words. The last time Tahki had ever spoken about the abuse she had gone through... it was only to him, and that was when he had found out about her being abused in the first place. Just even mentioning it could get her emotional, but actually _talking_ about it...

Jesse grabbed Pagan by the arm and practically dragged him out of the room, tossing him out into the hallway and slamming the door shut. "Listen, I don't care if she told you willingly or not," He started. "You _never_ talk with her about her past. You shouldn't even be bringing it up! She was emotionally scarred by what had happened to her-"

"Do not pin this on me, _boy_!" He hissed. "Yes, she willingly told me about her father. But if I had known she would do something like this over it, I wouldn't have brought it up in the first place. My job is to keep her safe, not to get her killed!"

Jesse scoffed.

They stood out in the hallway in silence, then, with Jesse leaning against the wall and Pagan pacing back and forth. His thoughts were racing, trying to figure out why she would've done this.

When his men had gone through their luggage, they took note about the medication in Tahki's bag and, upon asking the doctors, Pagan had discovered that they were all anti-depressants and sleeping pills. He had merely tossed it off as something small, at first, but now he fully understood the extent of her depression. This explained her attitude, her dark nature, her need to fight and survive; her memories haunted her. She was constantly in and out of the system, and after her father adopted her, gained her trust and love, he had turned it against her. The anti-depressants were meant to keep her from doing anything... rash. The sleeping pills, he guessed, were because of nightmares she might suffer during the evenings.

Her father was gone, but the pain still existed. She was _still_ suffering.

The door to Tahki's room opened and they both looked expectantly at the doctor. "Well?" Pagan asked.

The doctor urged the other medics out and he sighed. "She'll be fine. You caught her just in the nick of time, though. One artery was cut and if you came any later, she would've bled out. She's awake now, of course, but just don't try and be too... complicated. She lost a lot of blood."

They two men nodded their thanks and the doctor left them. They both walked into her room. Pup was laying beside her, his head on her lap and his paws on her hand. He was trying to comfort her. The medics had wrapped her legs in thick bandages, which were already beginning to be stained with blood.

Jesse was the first to be at her side. "Hey, KiKi..." He smiled slightly.

Tahki looked away from him.

Pup whined and nuzzled his nose under her hand, to which she stroked him slightly behind his ears.

"When did you take your meds last?"

"Last night..." Was her quiet reply.

"You could've just came and talked to me, you know?"

"I didn't want to be a bother..."

"You never are."

Pagan, seeing that she was alright, turned on his heel to leave. If those two were going to have a conversation just among themselves, then there was no sense in him staying there.

"It wasn't your fault."

He turned back around. "Beg your pardon?"

Tahki pushed herself back slightly, trying to sit up. "I don't want... you shouldn't blame yourself."

Pagan immediately scoffed and rolled his eyes. "What makes you think that I do?"

She smiled, slightly. "I see it in your eyes. It wasn't your fault, Pagan." She then gestured for him to come closer. "Sit down, stay a while. We need to talk." She spared a glance at Jesse. "All of us."

/ / /

Tahki quietly sipped at her tea, her hand shaking ever-so-slightly. "This isn't the first time this had happened." She started. "After my father tried to... it was before Jesse got home with his family. I was at his house, he told me where a spare key was. I was still crying from what had happened. I was paranoid, I was scared." She took another sip. "I was in a lot of emotional pain. Thought the knife would help, cut a little too deep on my ankle. The rest is history."

"What about professional help?" Pagan asked quietly.

She shrugged. "My father, simple as that. He probably didn't want people to know he was abusive and I didn't want to be out on the streets or even possibly be put back into the system."

Jesse sighed. "Hence why I took her to see my trainer. Mixed Martial Arts and self-defense classes were her way to vent. She also had me to talk to."

Tahki placed the mug on the nightstand, sitting up a little straighter on the bed. "I still... cut, sometimes. And even after this... if things still hurt, I might turn to the knife again." She looked to Pagan. "Which is why I need your help."

Pagan's brows furrowed and Jesse's eyes widened. Tahki was never one to ask for help. At all. _Especially_ from him! "Why not Harper's?"

"Is it his job to keep me safe?" She asked rhetorically. "He's already a mother hen, but he can't be around me all the time. And now, with you deciding to stay at the palace, you can actually help."

"With what?"

"With me."

Silence. He was shocked, she was waiting. The only thing that could be heard was Pup's quiet sighs as he slept soundly on Tahki's lap. "You and I may not exactly see eye-to-eye on things, but you can really help me... change. I'm a grown woman, I shouldn't be getting into habits such as cutting. You already know whenever I fall into my 'bitchy teenager' act, so now you know why I put that act forward; to hide something."

"I gathered as much." Pagan stated.

"My point exactly." She said. "No matter what my mood may be, if I'm pissed off or looking just about ready to cry, if I'm starting to put up that act, I need you to ask me if something's wrong. Compel me to talk. I can't keep these emotions bottled up anymore."

"And how do I know you won't try to hit me if I pressure you?"

"I probably will hit you, but I'll try not to."

Jesse leaned back in his chair, his eyes moving from one to the other. He never really watched when Pagan and Tahki interacted, but he guessed that when they did, they managed to get along a bit better than the first few times they tried to have a conversation. They'll have their moments, he thought, but at least they aren't trying to kill each other. Much.

The King of Kyrat finally nodded. "Alright, if help is what you want, then I can give it to you. However, you're not staying in this room."

She gave him a look. "Excuse you?"

"The bathroom is bloody, the door needs to be replaced which means there could be termites, you also have a tree underneath your terrace where someone could climb in and kill you while you sleep."

"If you're suggesting I sleep in the same room as you-"

"Absolutely not!" He exclaimed. "You're sleeping in the room that is next to mine."

" _Fuck no_!"

Jesse placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a stern look. "KiKi, come on, I'm not that fast and I'm a heavy sleeper; I won't be able to hear if someone snuck in your room."

"I've got Pup!" She retorted.

"He can't shoot a gun though, now can he?" He said. "Pup can act more as an alarm than anything else. Remember, Pagan could hear him all the way to his room."

Pagan stood from his chair and straightened out his shirt. "I've already made arrangements and your room is being prepared."

She narrowed her eyes. "No you haven't; you've been here this whole time."

He turned on his heel and shouted, " _Ronin_ , _get over here right now_!"

Tahki groaned loudly and fell back against her pillow, making Jesse laugh. "Girl, you gotta remember, when he's set on something, _he's set on something_!"

Pup barked and howled, his bushy tail wagging happily. She patted his head. "Well, on the bright side, I can piss him off and make Pup here sing for him in the morning."

"That's not a good idea, KiKi."

"Hey, if I'm awake, then he should be too."


	10. Recovery

Tahki had decided to spend the majority of the day outside. After being cooped up in her room (recovering, as Jesse and Pagan had put it) she was itching to move around. She wanted to work at planting trees, anyhow, which was harder than what it seemed. The wounds on her legs would often stretch whenever she knelt down and it would cause her some slight pain.

Pup was always running right beside her, jumping up and barking happily. He would sometimes carry a stick to her and just when she was about to grab it, he would pull away, wagging his tail playfully. She would eventually give in and attempt to get the stick from him.

Pagan leaned against a tree and just watched as the Canadian worked and played with her wolf pup. After the incident, he refused to leave her alone, so he came outside with her. It was almost strange; not even four days ago she was laying on her bed, recovering from almost lethal blood loss that came from wounds she inflicted upon herself. And now, she was running around with her wolf, laughing and smiling as if nothing had happened. Either she was attempting to cover up what she was truly feeling, or she just didn't care.

Or this could be some way of coping. Something that brought her some element of joy.

He was shaken from his thoughts as something scratched at his leg. Pagan looked down to see Pup sitting in front of him, a stick in his jaw and his tail wagging from side to side, his icy blue eyes gleaming with mischief. He raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"He wants you to play with him." Tahki said.

"I can see that."

Pup set the stick in front of him and barked, spinning around once in a circle and placing his paws in front of him as his rear stuck up into the air, tail wagging. Pagan made a face. "I'm not playing."

The little wolf cub sat down, then, and howled almost mournfully, staring expectantly at the man. Tahki snorted and placed her hand on her hip. "He's not going to leave you alone. You know that, right?"

Pagan stared into those sad puppy eyes, determined not to break. Pup shuffled his paws and let out a small, tiny whimper as his blue eyes glistened with moisture. Was the mutt actually about to cry?! His ears suddenly drooped and he whimpered once more, hanging his head slightly as if he had just been harshly scolded. The King of Kyrat sighed and knelt down to pick up the stick. "I'm only doing this so you can leave me alone." He informed the wolf cub.

Pup howled and panted happily, now standing on all fours and wagging his tail. With a small huff, Pagan threw the stick as far as he could and Pup took off towards it with an almost amazing speed.

The stick fell into the bushes and the cub dashed into it without hesitation. Pagan couldn't help but chuckle as the bush rustled and shifted. Soon enough, Pup came back out with the stick in between his teeth. Shaking himself off, he trotted over to Pagan with a proud look in his eyes. He set the stick back down in front of his feet and looked up at him expectantly. "I threw it once for you, already!" He snapped, now clearly annoyed with the creature.

Pup barked and nudged the stick closer.

"Puppies need lots of playtime, Pagan!" Tahki informed him. "One toss of the stick isn't enough for a high-energy dog."

He huffed again and picked up the stick. "I don't do puppies..." He muttered, tossing the stick away once more.

As Pup chased the stick, Tahki made her way over to the King. "You said you're staying, so you may as well help take care of Pup."

"He's not my mutt." He snapped.

"No, but he's in your household. Or palace. You may as well play with him."

Pup soon came back with the stick and quickly set it down in front of them, looking up and waiting patiently. Now, if they both would just...

Tahki leaned down to pick up the stick, thinking that Pagan wouldn't want to throw it again. In that moment, he had leaned down as well to pick it up. The result of their movements was their heads smacking into one another's.

Pup covered his eyes with his one paw as the two growled in pain. That wasn't supposed to happen, but it worked.

"You have a damn thick skull..." She groaned, rubbing at the side of her head.

"Oh, hush!"

Pup jumped up so his front paws were on Pagan's leg, panting with his tongue lolled to the side. "Why does he even make that face?"

Tahki picked up the stick. "I think it might be his way of smiling." She threw the stick and Pup ran after it, barking happily.

With the minor pain in his head dulled down to a small throb, Pagan asked her, "Even after what you had gone through a few days ago, you somehow seem to be content. Happy, even. Why? Or should I ask 'how'?"

The Canadian shrugged. "The outdoors brings me a sort of happiness. I always enjoyed nature, ever since I was young. And now with Pup hanging around, I have something to fill the time in. I've always wanted a puppy, anyways."

"He's a wolf cub."

"Same difference."

"That still doesn't answer how you're so... happy."

She shrugged once more and looked to him. "It's in the past and the small 'crisis' is over; no sense in dwelling on it. I may have almost died, but I'm determined to make a change in myself. And in order to do that, I have to find... _healthier_ ways to get rid of negative emotions."

The little wolf finally came back with the stick, but just before he reached them he practically collapsed, panting heavily. "You all tuckered out, Pup?" She asked, approaching the cub and leaning down to stroke him behind his ears.

"Lunch should almost be ready, anyhow." Pagan informed her. "So, we should be heading inside."

Tahki scooped Pup into her arm and he placed his front paws over her shoulder, resting his head around her neck. "You're just a suck-up, aren't you?"

He licked at her ear, making her giggle.

/ / /

Pup lied underneath Tahki's seat, his chest rising and falling with steady breaths as he slept. Occasionally he would twitch but other than that he was a calm sleeper. Such a cute pup, she thought.

Jesse, for whatever reason, hadn't made it to lunch so they had proceeded to eat without him. It was odd, however, as Ronin had been sent to inform him of lunch and normally Jesse would have arrived _tout suite_ , but he never made it back. Neither did Ronin, for that matter.

Although she didn't like to jump to conclusions, Tahki had at least some sort of idea as to what they were both up to. That was fast, she had thought.

It was not as extravagant as most dinners were; just some baked potatoes and ham, but it was still delicious. The ham must've been fresh and the potatoes well-preserved, because they tasted absolutely _amazing_!

"Do you ever cook?"

She looked up and quickly swallowed some of her food. "Pardon?"

"Do you ever cook?" Pagan repeated. "Being that you and Harper are the only ones who lived in your little house, I thought you'd be the one to cook."

She made a face. "Because I'm a woman?"

"That and you seem like the type who enjoys to cook." He stated.

Tahki rolled her eyes and cut at a slice of ham with her spoon (odd way to cut ham, but spoons had a sharp-ish edge, so they worked better than a fork). "I can't cook even if my life depended on it. Jesse doesn't cook much, but he normally made the food whenever he brought his boyfriend over."

Pagan suddenly choked on his potatoes, making Tahki jump back in surprise and Pup startle awake, hitting his head against the chair leg. Once he was able to regain his composure, he finally was able to ask, " _Boyfriend_?!"

She nodded. "Yeah."

He gestured with his fork. "He's...?"

She nodded again. "Yeah."

"And he is alone with Ronin!"

"What, is he gay as well?"

"Yes!" He snapped.

Pup pawed at Tahki's leg and she quickly handed him a piece of her ham. "I don't see anything wrong with them being together, Pagan. And if you think there is, there's probably something wrong with _you_." She sighed and pushed her chair in, setting her plate aside and leaning in on the table. "Look, Jesse has been alone for a few years and he deserves more than just happiness. If Ronin can give him that, then I'm happy for them. If you knew Ronin was gay, then you should be happy for them as well."

"I don't want Harper-"

" _Jesse_!" She corrected him.

Pagan rolled his eyes. "I don't want Jesse distracting one of my best and most trusted men!"

"Oh, suck it up! What are you going to do anyways, demote Ronin?" She shook her head. "On second thought, don't answer that."

He set his fork down and pushed away from the table. "If they're doing what I think they are..."

Tahki, using her fork, flung some of her baked potato at him. Thanks to her superb aim it landed directly on his cheek, making him flinch in shock. "Don't bother them." She told him. "Do you have something against homosexuals?"

"No." He quickly replied, wiping the potato off with a napkin. "I don't. I had just given Ronin an order and I expect him to follow through with it."

"Well, you ordered him to inform Jesse that lunch is ready and, if he told Jesse about lunch, then he followed through with the order. You never said that Jesse had to come. So, once or _if_ either of them manage to get here, don't give either of them shit for it. At all."

Pagan sighed and pulled his chair back in, grabbing his fork and stabbing a piece of ham. Satisfied that he wouldn't try to bother them, Tahki put her plate back in front of her and proceeded to eat her own food.

Tahki had to admit that she felt it was a bit fast in how Jesse suddenly became interested in Ronin (and vice versa), considering they had been there for only over a week, nearly two weeks. Well, Jesse had told her that he and Ronin talked a lot when she was out in the gardens (which he _still_ refused to help her with), but that still seemed a bit fast for him.

How old was the man, anyways? He looked fairly young... then again, Tahki had only seen Ronin in his Army suit, so most of his features were covered. And if he was Pagan's best soldier, there was a chance that he was older than twenty. Maybe he was in his thirties.

Pup suddenly stood at attention and trotted towards the door, his white-tipped ears perked up in curiosity as his head tilted to the side. "What is it, boy?" Tahki asked.

The doors to the dining room opened and Jesse quickly came through them. Pup howled briefly before running to greet him, jumping up and barking happily. Jesse briefly leaned down to pet the little wolf behind his ears. "Hey, buddy." He then stood and took his seat beside Tahki. "Sorry I'm late. I wasn't in my room when Ronin came to get me, so he had a bit of a hard time finding me."

Tahki briefly eyed her friend. He appeared presentable; fresh clothes (composed of black pants and a grey v-neck t-shirt), his hair was brushed through (almost a little too neatly) and was pulled back into a pony-tail. However, despite his appearance, Tahki didn't fail to notice the faint blush on his cheeks as well as the small red mark on the juncture between his neck and shoulder. Was it already bruising?!

"Where were you, then?" She asked.

Jesse served himself some potatoes and ham. "I was in the garden looking for you." He replied.

"You just missed us, then."

She gave him a look, eyebrow raised and a ghost of a smirk on her lips. _'I know...'_ it told him. He gave her a look in return, one that almost begged her to keep quiet. She nodded slightly and resumed with eating her meal.

Pagan didn't fail to notice the minor exchange between the two Canadians but he decided to let it slide. That didn't mean he wouldn't have a 'chat' with Ronin, later.

/ / /

"Jesus, this room is bigger than your last one!"

"I know, and it bothers me."

After lunch was over, Tahki had asked for Jesse to come by her room whenever he had the time. She needed to have a chat with him.

Jesse placed his hands in his pockets. "So, uh... why am I here?"

"You know why."

He sighed and brushed back his hair (which really wasn't needed, considering it was in a ponytail, but it was one of his nervous habits). "Look, KiKi, I'm a grown man."

She shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't be concerned for your well-being. Jesse, I'm happy for you; I'm happy you found someone! But, all things considering, how do you know he won't...?"

"I'm not too worried about that right now, Tahki." He walked towards the bed and sat beside her, careful as to not disturb the sleeping Pup who was currently twitching in his sleep. Most likely was chasing something... "Look, right now, it's just purely... _physical_. We're worrying about emotions later."

She nodded. "Ah... still, I don't want you getting hurt."

"I know." He hugged her with one arm and kissed her forehead. "Thanks, KiKi."

Tahki smiled.

"I haven't really been able to ask about you, lately." He said. "How're you feeling? You know, with moving beside his room and whatnot?"

She shrugged slightly. "Could be worse, really. Pagan doesn't snore, surprisingly, Pup no longer howls if I kick him off the bed and, _somehow_ , Pup seems to make it into Pagan's room to bug the shit out of him."

Jesse made a face. "You mean _you_ let him in-"

"No, I'm being serious; before I wake up Pup goes into his room and jumps on him! Either that, or he goes rooting through his stuff." Tahki chuckled slightly. "Brought me one of Pagan's socks, once."

"Was it pink?" He asked.

"No, surprisingly."

A small silence passed between the two friends and Jesse looked to Pup. "I'm really beginning to think that that wolf cub might actually be some spirit animal."

Tahki looked to Pup then to Jesse. "You're not being serious..."

"I'm dead serious!" He hissed. "This wolf cub pops up out of nowhere and it bonds with you almost instantly. He treats you like you've been his owner for years, he saved your life twice, do you not think there's some sort of entity in all of this?"

She shrugged. "You know I don't believe much in the supernatural, Jess."

Pup's body twitched and he whined slightly.

"At least consider that he might actually be here for a reason, KiKi. Okay?"

"And that reason is to annoy the shit out of Pagan."

"No."

"It is for me. Now get out of here, I need to take a rest."

/ / /

He was becoming half bored out of his mind! Now that Tahki was up and moving, there really wasn't too great of a need to keep watching over her. Of course, he'd be in the general area that she was in in case something happened, but he wouldn't be right beside her like he had been whilst she had recovered.

Sure, he could watch something on the tele*, but he had already watched the last season of _Lie To Me_ and he had finished reading his novel. He wasn't about to wander around in the gardens, lest he step on something and have her chew him out for it.

Pagan had considered in going to talk to Ronin about him and Harper, but he briefly reflected on what Tahki told him; ' _don't give either of them shit'_. He supposed that would include a small discussion about their relationship. Well, perhaps another time when it wasn't so _apparent_ as to what they had both been up to.

He growled in frustration and fell back onto his bed, placing his hands under his head. Perhaps a quick rest would do him some good. He couldn't remember the last time he truly had a decent sleep.

He heard something scratch and growl at the door and before he could react, the door opened and he physically cringed as the sound of claws scraping against the wooden floor drew near to him. "I still don't understand how you're able to open the door!"

Pup barked and hopped onto the bed and into Pagan's lap, making him groan in protest. "You're too big for this, mutt!" He hissed, attempting to push the wolf cub off of him.

The little wolf howled and sat on top of him, panting happily with his tongue lolled to the side. What a goofy little face he makes, he thought. The King sat up and briefly stroked the young pup's head and down his back. "You're an annoying little shit," he told him, "but you are... cute."

* * *

_"I think that we should have a puppy."_

_Pagan snorted. "And create more trouble? I think not."_

_She shifted onto her side and placed a delicate hand against his chest. "A puppy would give them something to occupy their time with, Pagan. Especially Ajay."_

_He thought about it for a brief moment. A puppy_ would _give the children something to do whenever they were busy with something. "I suppose a puppy would be... cute. Not a bad idea, Ishwari."_

* * *

Pagan's hand grasped tightly at the sheet underneath him and Pup whined, gently nuzzling his nose into Pagan's free hand, breaking the King from his trance. He felt angry. Not at the wolf cub, but more at himself. He had so many regrets, so much hate and anger. The things he felt, he desperately wished he could be rid of.

Sighing heavily, he patted the cub reassuringly. "You know, Pup..." He said. "There are some moments in which I think you truly understand what I feel. What everyone feels."

Pup whined again and lied down on his lap, resting his head on his paws and closing his eyes. As Pagan continued to pet the cub, he couldn't help but feel a soothing aura around Pup. Soon enough, he felt his own eyes fluttering closed and his breathing slowed.

Sleep came swiftly, for him.


End file.
